Samsung
Samsung recently announced at its developer conference (SDC) its new security solution, Knox Matrix, which uses blockchain technology to secure an ecosystem of devices. Samsung Knox is Samsung’s security platform that has made significant progress within mobile devices.
Our smartphones are not the only device prone to vulnerabilities in today’s digital world. Most people are involved in one or more digital ecosystems that could span a multitude of devices. As the number of smart home and IoT devices continues to increase, It has become equally difficult to ensure that every device connected to the network is secure.
Samsung Matrix looks to enhance the security of connected devices using blockchain technology. Let’s take a look at Samsung Matrix and what it means for the connected digital ecosystem.
IoT, meet blockchain
The Internet of things (IoT) is a broad term for any device or thing that is connected to a network of other devices or things. The most relevant example is a home deemed smart with a connected doorbell, speaker, television, stove, refrigerator, etc.
As IoT devices have risen in popularity and the number of IoT devices continues to increase, the vulnerabilities within the ecosystem rise along with it. It also doesn’t take much to compromise the security of an ecosystem. All it takes is for one device for an ecosystem of connected devices to be at risk, and you are only as good as your weakest link. These security vulnerabilities could be several problems, like outdated firmware, within an IoT device that leaves it vulnerable to bad actors.
I believe security could be one of the biggest setbacks for IoT in the future if it is not made a priority early on. Samsung’s solution for securing connected ecosystem devices is to use blockchain technology.
Blockchain technology has blown up this past half-decade within fintech for its ability to secure and validate a payment on a blockchain. One reason its great for fintech is that the data accumulated within a blockchain, also known as a distributed ledger, is unchangeable within its sequence without changing the block before or after it. It is a chain of data validated by the block of data before and after it.
Knox Matrix
Samsung’s Knox Matrix implements a private blockchain within a person’s ecosystem of devices. Samsung says a user’s connected devices have enhanced security through multi-layered mutual monitoring. Knox Matrix creates a chain of trusted devices no matter the operating system, and the more devices within the ecosystem, the more secure; there are more chains of trust. Samsung says that the initial rollout of Knox Matrix will be exclusive to Samsung devices, with eventual support for other manufacturers’ products with a developer SDK.
While blockchain technologies within fintech have blown up recently, there are more scams concerning blockchain than there are real-world use cases and innovative solutions. This statement goes without saying, many incredible technologies within fintech and cryptocurrency have yet to change the world. I believe Samsung does have a real-world use case here with blockchain that does address the need for more security within IoT.
Its highest value proposition is inherent to blockchain technology; the more devices connected to the Knox Matrix, the more secure the ecosystem becomes. The IoT space is predicted to increase even more over this next decade, and Knox Matrix naturally scales with it.
Knox Matrix also enhances security through the mutual threat monitoring of trusted devices. Every device within the Knox Matrix is held accountable by the other devices in the ecosystem. It also protects sensitive information by sharing credentials from device to device and makes logging in and payment processes more convenient because of the secure and decentralized nature of how data (sensitive data) is stored on the blockchain.
Wrapping up
It is interesting to imagine someone accessing your banking credentials because they were able to access your computer through your refrigerator. I believe IoT devices are going to continue to be popular and should continue to increase within the home.
Samsung is addressing the lack of security within IoT with Knox Matrix, securing an ecosystem of devices through a private blockchain. The best part about Knox Matrix is that is it only gets better and more secure as more devices are added to the connected ecosystem.
Note: Moor Insights & Strategy co-op Jacob Freyman contributed to this article.
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