IoT OTA Firmware Encryption for Secure Wireless Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing over-the-air (OTA) updating method for internet of things (IoT) devices faces security risks due to the potential interception and theft of firmware data during wireless transmission, compromising data security.
Innovation Solution
An encryption mechanism using asymmetric and symmetric encryption keys is implemented, where an encryption public key and private key are generated, and update keys and data are encrypted with the private key, ensuring only authorized devices can decrypt the data using the public key, accompanied by integrity checks to verify data integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If OTA updating method is used for convenient firmware updates, then ease of operation is improved, but data security deteriorates due to potential interception and theft of firmware data during wireless transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by generating encryption keys and encrypting firmware data before transmission. The update server generates a public key and private key pair in advance, encrypts the firmware data with the public key, and sends only the encrypted data through the wireless channel. This preliminary encryption action ensures that even if data is intercepted during transmission, it cannot be decoded without the private key, thus resolving the security vulnerability while maintaining OTA convenience
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces encryption algorithms and key management mechanisms as intermediaries between the update server and terminal devices. The public key acts as an intermediary that can encrypt data for anyone to send, while the private key serves as a secret intermediary for decryption. This intermediary encryption layer protects the firmware data during wireless transmission, allowing OTA updates to proceed conveniently while securing against interception and theft
Data Source
AI summary
An over-the-air updating method, an update server, a terminal, and an internet of things system are provided. The over-the-air updating method is applied to an update server in an internet of things system which further includes a terminal. The update server is communicatively connected to the terminal. The method includes: generating an encryption public key and an encryption private key which match each other; sending the encryption public key to the terminal; generating an update key, and encrypting the update key with the encryption private key; sending the encrypted update key to the terminal, for the terminal decrypts the encrypted update key with the encryption public key; encrypting update data with the update key; sending the encrypted update data to the terminal, for the terminal decrypts the update data with the decrypted update key, and performing data updating with the update data.