Chipmaker ARM says it has “signalled the importance of security in IoT” by acquiring IoT security software company, Offspark. The Dutch company specialises in IoT communications security and its PolarSSL technology is already deployed in a wide variety of devices including sensor modules, communication modules and smartphones.
ARM says that, because security is a requirement for all IoT deployments, the deal will help developers using the ARM mbed platform to design and build IoT products with world-class communication security and software cryptography.
According to ARM, PolarSSL is the IoT industry’s most pervasive embedded transport layer security (TLS) solution. It will be rebranded as ARM mbed TLS and will now form the core of the ARM mbed communication security and software cryptography strategy. It will remain open source and will be made available to developers for commercial use.
ARM says: “ARM mbed TLS will be available for standalone use and as part of mbed OS, providing support for TLS and DTLS optimised for embedded devices and will complement the Cryptobox technology of mbed OS that enables secure execution and storage. mbed TLS not only targets embedded devices but will continue to expand with features for the non-embedded arena as well.”
Krisztian Flautner, general manager, IoT business, ARM, said: “PolarSSL technology is already deployed by the leading IoT players. The fact that those same companies also utilise ARM Cortex processor and software technologies means we are now able to provide a complete bedrock solution for the industry to innovate from.”
mbed TLS 1.3.10, is now available under GPL and to existing PolarSSL customers on polarssl.org. ARM will release mbed OS under an Apache 2.0 license which will include mbed TLS, Thread, and other key technologies toward the end of 2015.
