SIMbae SAFE! Use Case

Problem: The lack of a unique, total SIM embedded solution with GSMA IoT SAFE compliant components.

Solution: SIMbae SAFE!

Developed by the mobile industry, IoT SAFE enables IoT device manufacturers and IoT service providers to leverage the SIM as a robust, scalable, and standardized hardware Root of Trust to protect IoT data communications.

IoT SAFE provides a common mechanism to secure IoT data communications using a highly trusted SIM, rather than using proprietary and potentially less trusted secure hardware elements implemented elsewhere within the device.

Overview

Three components are provided on the SIM to enable customers to establish secure communications between an IoT device and the server:

  • TLS Stack
  • Key Store and Certificate Store
  • IoT SAFE Applet

Key/Certificate Store

A Key Store and Certificate Store must reside on a secure element. There are three options for a key / cert store:

  • Some microcontrollers have one, but most do not.
  • A secure element chip added to the device board design.
  • The SIM.

Note if the developer uses a microcontroller’s secure element or an external secure element, the developer needs to obtain or develop the security expertise themselves to setup, generate, and manage the certificates and keys. The need for security expertise has been a significant barrier to security adoption in IoT.

SIMbae SAFE! Architecture

The advantages of SIMbaeTM SAFE!TM are:

  • With the TLS and the key / cert store all contained on the SIM, running under SIMbae, an IoT SAFE agent is not required to utilize the Key Store features.
  • This is a turn-key encryption solution on the SIM that requires NO development or even cybersecurity knowledge on the device developers’ part.
  • All they need to do is insert a new SIM containing SIMbae SAFE! in the device.

Able Device SIMbae Safe