Somewhere, Sasquatch is crying. Apologies to the hairy fella. Bigfoot just isn't welcome here.
Or here.
Wearables have arrived, but their space and processing constraints have made it extremely challenging to integrate the relatively large footprint of cryptographic modules. This dilemma has perplexed many, generally resulting in shrugs and lack of action. 'Until these devices are more popular, hackers won't bother.'
Unfortunately, the ostrich approach just isn't going to work. The capacity of Wearables is tiny, but the data itself is extremely significant. Consider all of the highly personal information that is gathered by Wearables - not just location and time, but physical habits. Some are designed specifically to archive heart rates and diagnostic data. The sky is the limit here, both for altruistic goals and malicious. It's like a 007 movie come to life, and you can bet that the villains will surface now that the technology exists in the mainstream. We can't sit and wait for the bad guys to strike first.
Seeing these devices catch traction is very, very cool. It's aways amazing to watch new tech develop and be embraced by the masses. But more importantly, it's an opportunity and we have a responsibility to ensure that it doesn't become a nightmare. Developers are already working on enterprise applications and concepts for mass deployment of these devices. The data must be secured, and our first challenge is to address the dilemma presented by the device capacity. Encryption modules carry weight that isn't factored into the design specifications for these constrained devices, hence the need for a module with a tiny footprint. The trick is that it still needs to pack enough punch to power the apps and the security solutions that are sure to follow.
Today, I'm speaking at the Silicon Valley Telecom Council's Wearables event at the CTIA MobileCON 2013, and I'm proud to announce CryptoCompact, only from SafeLogic.
The premise is simple. We started with the same goals as CryptoComply - unrivaled cryptographic performance with the easiest implementation and best support in the business. Then, we took out the bells and whistles and streamlined the module to run as fast as possible with the smallest footprint possible, but without sacrificing features needed today and for the future. And rest assured, CryptoCompact will uphold our standards for world class encryption by earning its own FIPS 140-2 validation.
I'm extremely excited about this new product and I can't wait to share more details. Check out the CryptoCompact page, including information about our pilot program. If you're developing apps for Wearables, definitely send us a submission. We'll be providing the CryptoCompact module to select developers during the testing period. Stay tuned for more details!