Today, ARM announced that it acquired the Dutch security software company Offspark, which is the main developer behind the PolarSSL crypto library for encrypted SSL connections on the web and on IoT devices.
According to ARM, the PolarSSL library is already "pervasive" in the IoT world, which is exactly why the company thought Offspark is a good match for it. ARM is getting ready to launch its mbed OS for IoT devices later this year. Security on IoT devices could become a huge issue in the future if not tackled from the beginning with good security designs and protocols.
ARM has already invested in the developing of the Thread mesh networking protocol for IoT, which should secure connections among devices at home. Now ARM wants to secure the Internet connections to the mbed OS-powered IoT devices, as well.
"We have always said that security must be the foundation of any IoT system and the acquisition of Offspark is evidence of us making that happen," said Krisztian Flautner, general manager, IoT business, ARM. "PolarSSL technology is already deployed by the leading IoT players. The fact that those same companies also utilize ARM Cortex processor and software technologies means we are now able to provide a complete bedrock solution for the industry to innovate from."
ARM will rename the PolarSSL crypto library to "mbed TLS" to better show the relationship between its OS and the library. The mbed TLS library will be available for both standalone use and as part of the mbed OS.
ARM will release the mbed OS, mbed TLS and Thread and other important technology the company has been developing for IoT under the open source Apache 2.0 license at the end of the year. The mbed TLS 1.3.10 library is already available under GPL on the PolarSSL website.
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