Aruba announces new automated IoT security solutions

Hewlett Packard Enterprise company Aruba has announced new offerings to help enterprise customers accelerate their adoption of IoT.

Aruba ClearPass Device Insight, a discovery and profiling solution with automated, machine learning (ML) based fingerprinting, and the Aruba 530 and 550 Series, additions to the family of 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) IoT-ready access points, allow enterprises to remove IoT security and connectivity barriers, while reducing operational costs and the complexity associated with IoT management.

When addressing their IoT strategies, organisations globally are faced with new security and connectivity challenges.

There are more than 14 million new connected devices being added to the network every day.

The introduction of vastly different device types is increasing exponentially, rendering traditional, manual device profiling techniques inadequate.

This makes automation and intelligence key requirements.

Additionally, the need to consolidate IoT connectivity for existing and new devices using different protocols is resulting in customer demand for a single, converged platform that supports today's most prevalent wireless technologies – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 and Zigbee.

IoT security starts with visibility: AI-powered device discovery and profiling

Aruba's new ClearPass Device Insight uses machine learning and crowdsourcing to automate the discovery and fingerprinting of all IP-enabled managed, unmanaged, and IoT devices on any wired and Wi-Fi network – regardless of vendor.

Advanced technology from Aruba's data science repository leverages custom-built deep packet inspection to create behavioural profiles that enable precision fingerprinting. ClearPass Device Insight's cloud delivery platform leverages shared community learnings to identify previously-unseen devices.

Used with Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager and Aruba's Dynamic Segmentation security capabilities, IT teams can automate authentication and policy enforcement down to the device and user level, applying different access policies or rules based on the role designated for the device.

If any device exhibits abnormal behaviour, ClearPass can automatically quarantine or remove it from the network.
 
According to Gartner, "line of business, operational technology and building automation networks that were historically air-gapped are converging onto the enterprise infrastructure, adding more IoT devices and more attack opportunities.

Aruba's closed-loop approach removes the guesswork and provides IT teams with an automated and intelligent security solution for visibility into this volume and variety of devices that are connected to the corporate network, often without IT oversight.

Comprehensive details about each device including manufacturer, device location, and even the type of applications the device is running, are displayed on the ClearPass user interface to deliver a complete solution to address IoT visibility and control.
 
IoT Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 APs as a platform for IoT

Aruba has also expanded its portfolio of next-generation 802.11ax IoT-ready access points to address growing wireless performance requirements as well as accelerate the adoption of IoT solutions.

When organisations consolidate multiple networks onto a single, converged infrastructure, IT teams can reduce complexity and improve return on investment when executing their IoT strategy.

A converged network simplifies IoT onboarding through automated endpoint discovery and provides a common policy framework for mobile devices, users and things.

Like the 510 Series announced in November 2018, the new 530 and 550 Series APs eliminate the need for IoT gateways and the resulting complicated network management requirements, allowing IT teams to easily connect a diverse set of IoT devices and sensors that utilise different protocols.

The support of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 and Zigbee protocols on the new APs allow organisations to connect with 74 per cent of today's IoT devices.

An added benefit of the 530 and 550 Series AP is that Wi-Fi 6 offers improved battery life for battery-powered IoT devices.

The protocol allows IoT devices to remain inactive until data needs to be transmitted.

As a result, battery powered IoT devices realise power savings, reducing the maintenance windows for IT staff.