1. Microcontrollers with Cybernetic
Security for IoT
Market Perspectives and Technology
Overview
Cleber Gomes, PhD
Brazilian National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development Scholar @
National Metrology, Quality and Technology Institute
December 2014

2. Our Goal
• To develop low-cost cybernetic security
solutions for microcontrollers used in IoT
devices
• Solutions must be flexible and demand low
power, small silicon footprint

3. Market Perspective
• Number of IoT devices in 2012, including hub
devices like computers and smartphones,
approximately 8,7 Billion
• 1/3 are non-hub devices that use low cost, low
power microcontrollers
• That is, number of active low cost IoT devices,
consumer, industrial, medical, military, at end
of 2012 approximately 2,5 Billion

4. Market Perspective
• 2,5 Billion represents around 1% of objects
with potential to become connected to IoT
• That is, potential number of active IoT devices,
which use low cost microcontrollers, is 250
Billion
• Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/01/07/how-many-
things-are-currently-connected-to-the-internet-of-things-iot/

5. Market Perspective
• Number of active IoT devices at end of 2014
approximately 16 Billion
• Of which 44% are hub devices
• Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2014/08/22/internet-
of-things-by-the-numbers-market-estimates-and-forecasts/
• https://www.abiresearch.com/press/the-internet-of-things-
will-drive-wireless-connect

6. Market Perspective
• Estimated number of IoT devices at end of
2020 approximately 40 Billion
• Of which 68% are non-hub
• That is, number of active low cost IoT devices,
at end of 2020 approximately 27 Billion
• Source: https://www.abiresearch.com/press/the-internet-of-
things-will-drive-wireless-connect

7. Market Perspective
Year
Number of low cost
microcontrollers in
IoT (Billion)
2012 2,5
2014 9
2020 27
2050(?) 250

8. Market Perspective
• For market penetration of 1% we have an
estimated number of sold microcontrollers
with cybernetic security for IoT applications at
end of 2020 of 270 Million

9. Market Perspective
Year
Estimated number of
sold microcontrollers
with low-cost
cybernetic security
for IoT (Million),
market penetration
of 1%
2012 25
2014 90
2020 270
2050(?) 2500

10. Market Perspective
• Another way to estimate the market potential
of microcontrollers used in devices for IoT, is
to take the evolution of Internet itself, shown
in next slide
• Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm

11. Market Perspective
Date INTERNET USERS (Millions) %World population Source
Dec, 1995 16 0.4 %IDC
Dec, 1997 70 1.7 %IDC
Dec, 1999 248 4.1 %Nua Ltd.
Aug, 2001 513 8.6 %Nua Ltd.
Dec, 2003 719 11.1 %Internet World Stats
Dec, 2005 1018 15.7 %Internet World Stats
Dec, 2007 1319 20.0 %Internet World Stats
Dec, 2009 1802 26.6 %Internet World Stats
Dec, 2011 2267 32.7 %Internet World Stats
Dec, 2013 2802 39.0 %Internet World Stats

12. Market Perspective
• If we apply a similar growth rate to the IoT
market, we find an estimated number of sold
microcontrollers with cybernetic security for
IoT applications, at end of 2020, of 400
Million, for market penetration of 1%

13. Market Perspective
Year
Estimated number of sold
microcontrollers with low-
cost cybernetic security for
IoT (Million), market
penetration of 1%
2012 25
2014 90
2016 207
2018 331
2020 400
2022 477
2024 572
2026 687
2028 824
2030 1000

14. Market Perspective
• We can achieve 1% microcontroller market
penetration through:
• Developing innovative solutions for low-cost,
small footprint cybernetic security, ideal for
IoT applications
• Pursuing international patents
• Building strategic partnerships

15. Market Perspective
• We seek to build strategic partnerships with:
• IP vendors
• Microcontroller manufacturers
• OEM manufacturers

16. Technology Overview
• Excluding higher cost “hub” devices, like
smartphones, tablets and computers, the list
of potential IoT applications for low-cost
cybernetic security enabled microcontrollers is
extense:

17. Technology Overview
o Smartmeters for:
• Electricity
• Pollution
• Gas
o Smartsensors for:
• Geographic Monitoring:
 Military
 Security perimeter
• Health Monitoring:
 Wearable
 Implanted (for instance smart pacemakers)
 Ingestible

18. Technology Overview
o Smartsensors for:
• Environmental Monitoring:
 Pollution
 Water Quality
 Water Flow and Level
 Fires
 Sismical Monitoring
 Natural Disaster Prevention
 Wildlife Monitoring
 Deforestation Monitoring

19. Technology Overview
o Smartsensors for:
• Industrial Monitoring:
 Machinery Maintenance
 Logging
 Disposal Analysis
 Structural Monitoring
 Safety Equipment Monitoring

20. Technology Overview
o Smartsensors for:
• Behavior/Position Monitoring of children and elderly
• Presence/Movement Monitoring for Smart Home

21. Technology Overview
o Smart appliances:
• Smart Power Outlets
• Smart Tags for Position Tracking of objects
• Smart Light Bulbs
• City Management:
 Smart trash cans
 Parking space monitoring
 Pollution and water sewage alerts
 Power line monitoring

22. Technology Overview
• In the near future cybernetic security will be a
must for devices used in IoT
• There will be great demand for low-cost, low-
power, low-performance-overhead cybernetic
security solutions
• The most cost effective way to achieve these
solutions is to build them at the ground level,
embedded in the microcontroller

23. Technology Overview
• Low-cost solutions for the following key
cybernetic security technologies will be needed:
 Separation of data between zones of different trust
levels and access privileges
 Detection and logging of security events
 Digital signature of data and software for authenticity
and integrity verification
 Tamper resilient device identification
 Secure storage
 Encapsulation tampering detection
 Light Weight Cryptography

24. Technology Overview
• To date, we have succeded to demonstrate a
highly flexible, low-cost solution for the two
first key technologies:
 Separation of data between zones of different
trust levels and access privileges
 Detection of security events

25. Technology Overview
• Our solution for data separation, control of
access privileges and security policy definition
constitutes a low-cost, more flexible,
alternative to ARM`s TrustZone

26. Technology Overview
• Our solution provides an effective defense
against Buffer Overflow and Denial of Service
attacks, besides allowing static, dynamic and
temporal definition of access rights to data