IoT “Standards” and “Guidance” Landscape
The standards, guidelines, consortia, and alliances landscape is broad, with a wealth of options. In the short term, these options likely will increase, but the industry eventually needs to converge to realize the IoT vision. Figure 4-2 shows the main groups that exist in 2017, although this is not an exhaustive list.
)
Figure 4-2 The IoT Standards and Guidance Landscape
Before looking at an overview of the standards, we need to emphasize the importance of risk. This is usually the first step in deciding what needs to be protected. No specific risk standards exist for IoT, although many IoT or IoT-related standards do contain elements of risk. Internationally recognized standards such as ISO 27001 and ISO 27005, IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-39 and SP 800-37, and the Open Group Risk Taxonomy Standard also cover both the IT and OT angles for IoT. In addition, be sure to keep in mind the proposed new framework we suggest in Chapter 2, “Planning for IoT Security.”
The following section outlines the key standards, alliances, consortia, and guidelines in four main areas that need to be considered for IoT systems. The Glossary contains information and links to all 109 resources.
Umbrella: Covers the entire IoT stack, but with no specific market or sector focus
Industrial/sector/market: Covers the entire IoT stack, with a specific market or sector focus
NFV/SDN: Covers NFV or SDN in general, but not specifically for IoT (although some of these groups do have specific IoT focus areas)
Security: Covering security in general, security for IoT specifically, or security for a specific market or sector
Each grouping has a link or a drive for IoT, based on industry direction or market research (whether directly or indirectly focused on IoT); each grouping also has a security element. The security elements of each standard are not called out specifically in this chapter, and additional information is available on the website of each group. The groups are listed in alphabetical order, not in order of importance or applicability.
Architectural or Reference Standards
The Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI; https://aioti-space.org/) was founded in March 2015 by the European Commission. Its aim is to create and foster a European IoT ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of IoT. As part of this work, the AIOTI is supporting the convergence of IoT standards, researching how to remove barriers to IoT adoption, and aligning the EU with the rest of the world’s IoT activities.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI; www.etsi.org and www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/clusters/connecting-things) has focused its IoT-specific work since May 2015 on ensuring interoperable and cost-effective solutions for M2M, particularly for smart services and applications for IoT. The ETSI is developing standards for data security, data management, data transport, and data processing, with specific initiatives in smart devices, appliances, homes, buildings, connected vehicles, smart grids, and cities. ETSI collaborates with oneM2M in IoT.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; http://standards.ieee.org/innovate/iot/index.html) has several IoT-focused groups, including the IEEE IoT Initiative, established in 2014, and the IEEE P2413 working group. The IoT Initiative has developed (and continues to develop) a number of standards and is a central point for all IEEE IoT activities. The IEEE P2413 working group focuses on developing an IoT reference architecture, covering basic building blocks, their capability to be integrated into multitiered systems, and security.
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T; http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/studygroups/2017-2020/20/Pages/default.aspx) launched its Internet of Things Global Standards Initiative in 2013. Its work is driven by Study Group 20 (SG20), with a focus on IoT and smart cities and communities. Its goals include standardization requirements for the coordinated development of IoT technologies such as M2M and ubiquitous sensor networks, as well as an end-to-end architecture for IoT.
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF; https://trac.tools.ietf.org/area/int/trac/wiki/IOTDirWiki) is the leading Internet standards body. It has a specific IoT group that is coordinating related efforts across its working groups, reviewing specifications for consistency, and monitoring IoT-related activities in other standards groups.
The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF; https://www.internetsociety.org/publications/ietf-journal-april-2016/internet-things-standards-and-guidance-ietf), part of the IETF, has been working on various IoT-related initiatives since 2005. Today it has seven working groups, focused on IPv6 over Low-power WPAN (6LoWPAN), Routing Over Low-power and Lossy networks (ROLL), Constrained RESTful Environments (CoRE), 6TiSCH WG (IPv6 over the TSCH mode of IEEE 802.15.4e), Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR), and IRTF Thing-to-Thing Research Group (T2TRG).
IoTivity (https://www.iotivity.org/) founded its open source framework for IoT device-to-device connectivity in 2016. The project is sponsored by the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) and hosted by the Linux Foundation.
The IPSO Alliance (https://www.ipso-alliance.org/) was formed in 2008 with a mission to establish and develop industry leadership for a platform that includes the definition and support of smart objects, with an emphasis on object interoperability on protocol and data layers and also identity and privacy technologies. For IoT smart objects, this includes libraries, repositories, design kits, lifecycle management, and interoperability, with a focus on openness and accessibility.
The Object Management Group (http://www.omg.org/hot-topics/iot-standards.htm) is a technical standards consortium that is developing several IoT standards, including ones that focus on the Data Distribution Service (DDS) and Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML), dependability frameworks, threat modeling, and a unified component model for real-time and embedded systems. The Object Management group has also managed the IIC since 2014.
The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF; http://openconnectivity.org/), renamed in 2016 from the previous Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), develops specification standards, creates interoperability guidelines, and provides a certification program for IoT devices. It is one of the largest IoT organizations (members include Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, and Samsung) and it sponsors the open source IoTivity Project.
The Open API Initiative (https://www.openapis.org/) provides a specification for machine-readable interface files for describing, producing, consuming, and visualizing RESTful API web services as part of the OpenAPI Specification. Development started in 2010, with the OpenAPI Specification released in 2016.
The OpenFog Consortium (OFC; www.openfogconsortium.org) was established in November 2015 with the founding members ARM, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, and Princeton University Edge Computing Laboratory. OpenFog is a public–private ecosystem formed to accelerate the adoption of fog computing to solve the bandwidth, latency, and communications challenges associated with IoT, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, the tactile Internet, and other advanced concepts. This includes defining a reference architecture of distributed computing, network, storage, control, and resources to support intelligence at the edge of IoT (including autonomous and self-aware machines, things, devices, and smart objects in a variety of disciplines and fields).
The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS; https://www.oasis-open.org/) was founded in 1998. It currently promotes industry consensus and produces standards for security, IoT, cloud computing, energy, content technologies, and emergency management.
The main umbrella groups for IoT security are the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Cloud Security Alliance. The section “Specific Security Standards and Guidelines,” later in this chapter, covers both.
Industrial/Market Focused
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC; www.iiconsortium.com) was established March 2014 with the founding members in AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel. The focus of the IIC is to accelerate the industrial IoT, to promote open standards and interoperability for technologies in industrial and machine-to-machine environments. This includes defining use cases and test beds, creating interoperability reference architectures and frameworks, influencing the standards process for the Internet and industrial systems, and facilitating the open sharing of information, ideas, and experiences. The IIC also seeks to build confidence in new approaches to security.
The Open DeviceNet Vendors Association (ODVA; www.odva.org) was founded in March 1995 and underwent a 2014 relaunch. Members are suppliers of devices for industrial automation application. Current efforts target transforming industrial automation in integrated cyber-physical systems, with connectivity between things inside and outside the plant. Its approach includes technologies such as SDN, time-sensitive networks (TSN), mobility, cloud, and industrial cybersecurity to make IIoT a reality.
The Open Group Open Process Automation (http://www.opengroup.org/open-process-automation) was established in September 2016, driven by the needs of ExxonMobil. It was standardized by the Open Group because of its applicability to multiple organizations and industries. The Open Process Automation Forum is an international forum of end users, system integrators, suppliers, academia, and other standards organizations whose aim is to develop a standards-based, open, secure, and interoperable process control architecture. A key element in this is to offer a customer-driven standard, pushing control vendors away from proprietary systems. The standard is a good mix of users and suppliers of process automation systems, and scope covers edge to cloud because of IoT.
The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI; https://www.mapi.net/forecasts-data/internet-things-industrie-40-vs-industrial-internet) was revived in 2011. It developed Industrie 4.0 for industrial applications of IoT, which focuses on automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including cyber-physical systems, IoT, and cloud computing. Four design principles are central to Industry 4.0: interoperability, or the capability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to communicate with each other via IoT or the Internet of People (IoP); information transparency, or the idea that information can create a virtual copy of the physical world by enriching digital plant models with sensor data; technical assistance, or the capability of assistance systems to support humans in making informed decisions, as well as the capability of cyber-physical systems to physically support humans by doing work deemed unsuitable for people; and decentralized decisions, or the autonomy of decision making for cyber-physical systems.
oneM2M (http://www.onem2m.org/), formed in July 2012, focuses on developing communications architecture and standards, as well as security, interoperability, and specifications for machine-to-machine and IoT technologies. Its framework supports a number of verticals including healthcare, industrial automation, smart grid, connected car, and home automation.
OLE for Process Control (OPC; www.opcfoundation.org), founded in 1996, provides an interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and other industries, including IoT. The developed specifications have been created by industry vendors, end users, and developers. In 2008, OPC-UA (OPC Unified Architecture) was launched, providing a service-oriented architecture to integrate individual OPC specifications into a single framework.
The Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP; http://www.sgip.org/cybersecurity/) was established in December 2009. SGIP focuses on interoperability standards to advance power grid modernization and accelerate the interoperability of smart grid systems and devices. It has a specific IoT effort within the energy industry to incorporate common data models and IoT communication protocols.
The Thread Group (https://www.threadgroup.org/), formed in July 2014, drives an IPv6 networking protocol for IoT to automate home devices such as lighting and security systems on a local wireless mesh network. Thread provides a certification program for Thread-based devices.
The main security standards and regulations for the industrial space include IEC 62443 for industrial control systems, IEC 62351 for power automation, and NERC-CIP for the North American power industry. These are covered in the section “Specific Security Standards and Guidelines,” later in this chapter.