A View from Industry
Ed Nightingale · 2019
Every year, 9 billion new devices powered by single-chip computers-MCUs-are deployed; all with little to no cybersecurity and most with no network connectivity. These devices are in your home, in your office, and in every industrial or commercial setting on the planet. Azure Sphere offers to improve MCU computing by bringing cloud connectivity, intelligence, and high security to these devices. The Azure Sphere solution consists of three components: a new class of cross-over MCUs incorporating Microsoft silicon security technology, a new OS built around a custom Linux kernel, and a cloud-based security service that guards every Azure Sphere-based device on the planet for its deployed lifetime. In this talk, I will explain the market scenarios Azure Sphere addresses, dig into the silicon and software architecture that compose the Azure Sphere solution, review some of the project's history, and demo the Azure Sphere experience. Finally, I will look towards the future and discuss research problems out on the horizon. Specifically, I'll explore some scenarios around the convergence mobility, IoT and facial recognition via machine learning where strong security and privacy guarantees are especially important.