IoT, Meet Blockchain – Knox Matrix is ​​Samsung’s new Peer To Peer IoT security platform

Samsung recently announced at its developer conference (SDC) its new security solution, Knox Matrix, which uses blockchain technology to secure an ecosystem of devices. Samsung Knox is Samsung’s security platform that has made significant progress in mobile devices.

Our smartphones aren’t the only device at risk of vulnerabilities in today’s digital world. Most are involved in one or more digital ecosystems that can span a multitude of devices. As the number of smart home and IoT devices continues to increase, it has become equally difficult to ensure that every device connected to the network is secure.

The Samsung Matrix looks to improve the security of connected devices using blockchain technology. Let’s take a look at the Samsung Matrix and what it means for the connected digital ecosystem.

IoT, meet blockchain

The Internet of things (IoT) is a broad term for any device or thing that is connected to a network of other devices or things. The most relevant example is a home that is considered smart with a connected doorbell, speaker, TV, stove, refrigerator, etc.

As IoT devices have increased in popularity and the number of IoT devices continues to increase, so do vulnerabilities in the ecosystem. Nor does it take much to compromise the safety of an ecosystem. All it takes is one device for an ecosystem of connected devices to be compromised, and you’re only as good as your weakest link. These security vulnerabilities can be multiple issues, such as outdated firmware, in an IoT device that make it vulnerable to bad actors.

I think security could be one of the biggest setbacks for IoT in the future if it is not prioritized early. Samsung’s solution to securing connected ecosystem devices is to use blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology has blown up the past half decade in fintech for its ability to secure and validate a payment on a blockchain. One of the reasons it is good for fintech is that the data accumulated in a blockchain, also known as a distributed ledger, is immutable within the sequence without changing the block before or after it. It is a data chain validated by the data block before and after it.

Knox Matrix

Samsung’s Knox Matrix implements a private blockchain in a person’s ecosystem of devices. Samsung says a user’s connected devices have improved security through multi-layer mutual monitoring. Knox Matrix creates a chain of trusted devices regardless of operating system, and the more devices in the ecosystem, the more secure; there are several chains of trust. Samsung says the initial rollout of Knox Matrix will be exclusive to Samsung devices, with eventual support for other manufacturers’ products with a developer SDK.

While blockchain technologies in fintech have exploded recently, there are more scams regarding blockchain than there are use cases and innovative solutions in the real world. This statement goes without saying, many incredible technologies in fintech and cryptocurrency have yet to change the world. I think Samsung has a real use case here with blockchain meeting the need for more security in IoT.

Its highest value proposition is inherent to blockchain technology; the more devices connected to the Knox Matrix, the more secure the ecosystem becomes. The IoT space is predicted to grow even more over the next decade, and Knox Matrix naturally scales with it.

Knox Matrix also improves security through mutual threat monitoring of trusted devices. Each entity in the Knox Matrix is ​​held accountable by the other entities in the ecosystem. It also protects sensitive information by sharing credentials from device to device and makes login and payment processes more convenient due to the secure and decentralized nature of how data (sensitive data) is stored on the blockchain.

Ends

It’s interesting to imagine someone gaining access to your bank information because they gained access to your computer through your refrigerator. I think IoT devices are going to continue to be popular and should continue to increase in the home.

Samsung addresses the lack of security in IoT with Knox Matrix, securing an ecosystem of devices through a private blockchain. The best thing about Knox Matrix is ​​that it only gets better and more secure as more devices are added to the connected ecosystem.

Note: Moor Insights & Strategy co-op Jacob Freyman contributed to this article.

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