A Proposal of Secure and Automated Over-the-Air Firmware Update Mechanism for IoT Devices Using Continuous...

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Cybersecurity

Background:

• The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices necessitates robust firmware management solutions.
• Existing firmware update processes face challenges including version rollback, unauthorized modifications, and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.
• A secure and automated Over-the-Air (OTA) firmware update mechanism is crucial for maintaining IoT ecosystem integrity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an automated OTA firmware update mechanism for IoT devices.
• To enhance firmware update security, reliability, and efficiency through integration with Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) pipelines.
• To ensure trusted firmware origins and provide error handling and monitoring capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Developed an automated OTA firmware update mechanism.
• Integrated the mechanism with CI/CD pipelines for trusted firmware deployment.
• Implemented and evaluated the proposal using the SEMAR IoT application server.
• Conducted tests for integrity, authentication, performance, resource utilization, and benchmarking.

Main Results:

• The proposed mechanism successfully verified firmware integrity and authentication.
• Performance and resource utilization were measured, demonstrating efficiency.
• Benchmarking tests confirmed the reliability and efficiency of the automated update process.
• The system effectively addresses security concerns like MITM attacks and modified firmware files.

Conclusions:

• The proposed automated OTA firmware update mechanism is reliable and efficient for managing IoT devices.
• Integration with CI/CD ensures trusted firmware sources and enhances overall security.
• The solution provides a robust framework for secure and manageable IoT firmware deployment.