IoT devices are playing an increasingly integral role in our everyday lives and are a key part of digitialization. Physical or virtual objects are interconnected to exchange data with other devices or systems via the Internet.
Fraunhofer AISEC addresses the security of IoT components from different perspectives – for example, by securing data and communication flows, by performing software analyses of connected devices and by testing interfaces using fuzzing tools.
How can security be achieved throughout the entire lifecycle of smart systems – covering the range from security by design to compliance to EU regulations? Submit your paper by March 9 and take part in the LIFESEC workshop on June 22, 2026, in Messina (Italy) and help to shape the cybersecurity of smart systems.
The study by Fraunhofer AISEC on the security of cryptographic hardware implementations focuses on physical attacks on hardware, such as side-channel attacks and fault attacks, as well as measures to defend against them. These protective mechanisms can potentially be compromised by optimizations in the chip design process. The study shows that protective measures should be integrated into complex design processes and taken into account in hardware design synthesis in order to be resilient to hardware attacks. The findings will help hardware designers to develop robust and secure chips.
While Wi-Fi communication encryption faces much scrutiny, programming errors in drivers and firmware of embedded devices lack third-party pentesting. In this blog article, our Embedded Security expert Katharina Bogad provides insights in automatic (fuzz) testing of 802.11 firmware and drivers, explains why it is necessary to arbitrarily alter a wireless connection and explores the hardware and software requirements to do so. Further she discusses how to use the monitor mode for passive listening and frame injection and closes with a section of assorted pitfalls.