MITRE will award $50,000 for a solution that detects rogue IoT Devices

MITRE has challenged the security community to devise new methods that could help in detecting rogue IoT devices on a network.

The non-profit research and development organization MITRE has challenged security researchers to propose new methods and technologies that could help in detecting rogue Internet of Things (IoT) devices on a network.

The goal of the Unique Identification of IoT Devices Challenge is to prevent abuses of IoT devices devising a solution that can help administrators monitor IoT devices.

Flawed IoT devices and poorly configured smart objects are a privileged target for hackers that compromise them to compose powerful botnet.

Recently IoT botnets were observed launching massive DDoS attacks against the OVH websites and the KrebsonSecurity.com.

Mitre will give a $50,000 reward to the researchers who will propose a non-traditional method for enumerating IoT devices through passive network monitoring.

“The MITRE Challenge, Unique Identification of IoT Devices, seeks to discover possible solutions to this potential threat so our sponsors can reap the benefits of this technological evolution, while minimizing the risks.” states the MITRE.

“We are looking for non-traditional approaches for identifying IoT devices. In the future, manufacturers may embed unique digital signatures into each device. For today, we need to be able to monitor the products already in use.

We’re looking for a game-changing approach to identifying devices that would require no modification to the existing inventory, e.g., no change in protocols or manufacturing.”

MITRE Unique Identification of IoT Devices Challenge offers participants from around the world the recognition and promotion for coming up with a game-changing solution, and the opportunity to connect with government agencies looking for IoT solutions.

The challenge, that will begin in November, is open to research teams, companies and also to individuals.

Participants will have six weeks to propose their solutions for detecting bogus IoT devices.

MITRE has created a testbed network composed of a wide range of devices having different characteristics.

“The MITRE IoT team has built a model home network to serve as a testbed for the Challenge. This robust home system includes a broad array of affordable devices with diverse operating characteristics. We believe that the identification techniques that prove effective in a home system will translate to industrial, healthcare, military, smart city, and other IoT networks.” reads the MITRE.

According to EurActiv, the European Commission is working on a legislation aimed at securing IoT devices. The legislation will force vendors and manufacturers to adopt a security by design approach for their smart objects.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – IoT Devices , Mitre)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.