ReFirm Labs

ReFirm Labs, Inc. develops tools to detect security issues in embedded and IoT devices.

History

2021: Microsoft Acquisition

On June 2, 2021, Microsoft announced the acquisition of ReFirm Labs, a security developer for embedded and IoT device wrappers. Information about the value of the transaction between Microsoft and ReFirm is not disclosed.

Microsoft acquires startup ReFirm dealing with the security of the "Internet of Things"
Photo: crainsnewyork.com

The flagship product ReFirm - a tool for analyzing the security of Binwalk software components - as of June is used by about 50 thousand organizations around the world. Binwalk allows you to identify security problems in such devices, for example, passwords accidentally left by developers, keys and tokens, typical programming errors, and so on.

The analyzer works with any device, from household routers to servers and smart cars. In addition to the list of problems, the generated report lists all software components used by developers, which also helps to quickly detect vulnerable components and allows you to establish how certain devices meet security requirements in the area where they are used.

Microsoft has recently been actively investing in the security of IoT devices and intelligent edge devices.

Intelligent peripherals - usually devices connected to clouds to and performing specific specialized tasks - are a new target for, cyber attacks so Microsoft has been focusing on protecting the software components of these devices in recent years. Specialized protective tools are available, such as Azure Defender for IoT, and Azure Device Update is launched, which works according to the same principles as the update center. Windows In addition, the company promised to invest Internet of things in and its security about $5 billion by 2022.

Buying ReFirm Labs is part - or even the culmination - of this strategy.

The Internet of Things is one of the most problematic areas in terms of information security, "said Alexey Vodyasov, technical director of SEC Consult Services. - There are billions of embedded and IoT devices in the world, whose software components are replete with bugs that sometimes cannot be fixed. This is really a huge and actively exploited "surface of attack," and, strictly speaking, it should have been started ten years ago. No matter what, the growing number of targeted tools for auditing and protecting embedded devices and the Internet of things, especially from leading global companies, makes it possible to hope that the problem will be reduced after a while. Even if not immediately.[1]

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