Unisys and NASSCOM host Tech-Series on IoT security

With the technology sector on the brink of a revolutionary change with widespread adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), Unisys in association with NASSCOM, organized a Tech Series think tank. The event, held on November 17, 2016, featured keynote addresses by prominent technologists and a deep-dive panel discussion by industry experts on the theme of ‘Secure IoT for a Secure Future.’

K Nageswara Rao, Vice President, India Technology Center, Unisys, delivered the welcome address. Kelsey Bruso, Distinguished Engineer, Unisys, Lux Rao, Director and Leader, Digital Transformation, Cisco and Dattatreya Kulkarni, Senior Director, Intel Security were the keynote speakers. The event also featured a panel discussion on ‘How Personal Should IoT Devices Get.’ The panelists included Manjunatha Hebbar, Founder and CEO, Bouyanci, Kiran Chikappa, Startup Incubation Head, Qualcomm, Soma Kohli, Sr. Engineering Manager, Unisys, Veeramanikandan Raju, Tech Head, Texas Instruments and Uday Subbarayan, Founder and CTO, Elastic Beam.

The discussion threw light on how the entire nature of cyber threats is changing to exploit the most inconspicuous devices, from baby monitors to cameras. Most agreed that identity monitoring and control will be crucial in IoT as edge devices are as of yet incapable of recognizing ‘users.’ They also deliberated on the industrial threat landscape at length and elaborated on the importance of machine learning to study threat patterns as well as the need for an architectural approach to ensure enterprise security to quarantine branches under threat. One of the most common data leakage patterns with IoT devices is the Man in the Middle attack which causes great harm to large organizations and even to the security of an entire country. Hence, organizations need to protect themselves against recurring security threats, especially from known factors.

Explaining Unisys’ role in security, K Nageswara Rao said, “Unisys is known for its commitment to delivering pervasive security that addresses today’s challenges and secures businesses for tomorrow. With the world beset by newer risks every day, cutting-edge developments like IoT that knit together all spheres of our lives with a digital DNA, has far-reaching security implications. It was a privilege for us to partner with NASSCOM and the best minds from the industry on this great platform for thought leadership and idea exchange to envision a more secure future.”

This Tech-Series was a part of Unisys Cloud 20/20TM initiative to foster IT innovation in India and saw participation from domain experts and developers in systems engineering and IoT, senior technical leaders, analysts, researchers and CXOs from across the industry.