Security, Lots of Spectrum, Critical to Growth of Internet of Things, FCC’s TAC Says
If it wants to encourage continued growth of the Internet of Things the FCC has to make sure enough spectrum is available for the growing number of sensors and other devices that make up the IoT, said a key finding of the FCC Technological Advisory Council, which held its quarterly meeting Tuesday at FCC headquarters.
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To accelerate IoT growth “one key thing will be making sure that, at least for the short-range spectrum, we stay well ahead of demand,” said David Tennenhouse of Microsoft, co-chairman of TAC’s IoT Working Group. No “unique” spectrum allocations are required to make IoT a success, he said. “We think spectrum sharing will work.” The FCC also should put in place a system to refresh its analysis and plans to accommodate growing IoT demands, Tennenhouse said. “It’s not that there won’t be high pressure or high demands on spectrum, it’s that it doesn’t have to be unique to IoT."
Spectrum efficiency is also important for keeping up with growing demand for spectrum, Tennenhouse said. Industry “should be encouraged to adopt spectrally efficient technologies and/or very high levels of spatial reuse,” he said. “At least make sure you're always getting one of those.”
Russ Gyurek of Cisco, also a working group co-chairman, said security is another big concern as IoT becomes more important. The growth of IoT “will increase the attack surface,” he said. “Many, many more points” could be used for denial of services attacks or security breaches, he said. Gyurek said the working group’s initial finding is that building in better security should primarily be a responsibility of industry, and device makers should agree to adopt current security practices for whatever they manufacture. “This is not a U.S. deployment, IoT is worldwide,” he said.
Industry needs to look at whether the growing number of IoT devices speaks to the need for building into them some mechanism for ending their operations at a given point, Gyurek said. Otherwise, these devices could be “chirping like crickets” and using up valuable spectrum, he said. The FCC should primarily focus their security efforts on preventing misuse of spectrum, he said.
TAC got an update from its Cybersecurity Working Group and its early efforts. At its last meeting, FCC officials made clear they expect TAC to make cybersecurity a key focus this year (CD March 11 p1).
Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson said the issue is critical. “It’s so important in virtually all of the issues [TAC] is grappling with,” he said. Authentication is “just embedded in the way we communicate,” he said. “If you think like an attacker, you're always looking for that opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attack, a kind of attack where you're looked as a regular, authorized user.” Simpson also cautioned the group against duplicating efforts already underway by the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council.
The TAC working group is focused on making security part of the process upfront, said George Popovich of Motorola Solutions, who presented early findings. “Oftentimes, security solutions are deployed after the fact.” The group is also looking at how to reduce the number of security patches, he said. The group plans to make its first formal recommendations in July, he said.
The Advanced Sharing and Enabling Wireless Technologies Working Group is taking a deep dive on a number of tricky issues, said Chairman Brian Daly of AT&T. “We want to identify and evaluate enabling technologies to enhance sharing and develop requirements for protection of incumbent services.” The group will provide advice on the establishment of a model city for the testing of advanced sharing technologies, in cooperation with the White House and NTIA (CD April 7 p2), he said.
The TAC Spectrum and Receiver Performance Working Group will soon publish a white paper on interference resolution enforcement and radio noise, said Lynn Claudy of NAB, a chairman of the group. The paper was circulated to TAC members a week ago for review and the TAC agreed Tuesday to put it on the TAC website.
TAC also got new assignments Tuesday. The FCC asked the TAC to provide advice as it revises Form 477, used for local telephone competition and broadband reporting. The agency also asked the TAC to look more closely at cellphone theft. “Nobody really knows what the problem is” besides the fact that more phones are being stolen, said Dennis Roberson of the Illinois Institute of Technology, chairman of the TAC. No one knows for sure what happens to the phones after they are stolen, he said.