Security Upgrade Kit: How to secure your embedded systems, IoT and OT applications

While the cyber security of companies worldwide is increasingly at risk, authorities are trying to counter this with regulations. In addition, companies' embedded systems, IoT and OT applications must meet specific requirements and comply with industry standards. In this situation, companies need fast, simple and cost-effective support to secure their products and data. This is exactly where the new Security Upgrade Kit comes in …

Embedded systems have unique security vulnerabilities but are also more difficult to keep secure than other technologies, for three key reasons:

• Product lifecycle: Unlike many other technologies, embedded systems have service lives of decades - think about aircraft, defense systems, power plants, etc.
• Difficult to update: Embedded systems can be physically hard to reach — think monitoring stations scattered across a large country, for example, etc.
• Lack of flexibility: The monolithic nature of the OS in some systems and the limited memory and processing capabilities of embedded hardware also cause restrictions to the type of security defenses developers can add post market.

Worldwide every day over 4,000 cyberattacks occur and a company falls victim to a ransomware attack every 14 seconds. Such cyber-attacks are also increasingly affecting embedded systems, whose design and long lifecycles entail special security requirements. The financial losses suffered by companies because of cyber-attacks are estimated to exceed $10.5 trillion by 2025.

Against this backdrop, authorities in Europe and worldwide have decided to take action by issuing regulatory requirements that companies should observe and comply with. In the EU, for example, the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) has been drawn up and will come into force as early as 2025. In addition, the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is expected to come into force in 2027. Other European regulations that affect companies include the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) and the Data Act. American and global regulations include the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) and the IoT Security and Safety Framework (IoT-SSF) in Japan. And not to forget, there are unique requirements for secure embedded systems such as data confidentiality, data integrity and data availability. This means that companies need to protect themselves and their data even better and offer legally compliant products.

Learn more: Security Upgrade Kit - Swissbit

The Security Upgrade Kit with the microSD card Security Level 2 creates trust in your embedded systems. The kit enhances data protection and ensures secure access control with ease allowing users to keep their embedded system secure by upgrading existing microSD cards. It is perfectly suited for retrofit solutions providing exceptional embedded security. The Security Upgrade Kit can upgrade the security features and solves many security problems quickly and reliably. Companies do not have to withdraw their product from the range. They might be able to simply upgrade it individually. This way, companies can prevent product piracy, license fraud or the reading or manipulation of personal data through encryption.

• The Security Upgrade Kit adds an built-in access control feature that can be easily configured in terms or partition visibility and read only or read/write capability
• The Security Upgrade Kit can encrypt the mission-critical data inside the flash memory controller and store it in an access-controlled location - only the legit device or maintainers have access.
• With these features the Security Upgrade Kit with microSD card Security Level 2 creates trust in your embedded systems, even if it was not designed for security.
• Swissbit is the partner for trusted data and identities as we provide industry-leading data storage and endpoint protection solutions that ensure reliable data storage, data protection and secure access for critical applications.

The Security Upgrade Kit supports companies quickly and effectively at a time when they are more threatened than ever by cyber threats and have to comply with regulations and industry standards. The security of their data is clearly linked to their commercial success. The Security Upgrade Kit is the tool of the hour to protect companies and secure their embedded systems effectively and cost-consciously.