Blockchain Powered IoT Vaccine, NeuroMesh Scores at MIT 100K Accelerate

The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is currently underway. As companies work on developing interconnected IoT devices by utilizing a variety of technologies including the blockchain technology, it opens the whole infrastructure to new levels of threats. NeuroMesh, a trusted distributed IoT and smartphone platform intends to prevent such incidents with its botnet security suite.

NeuroMesh, founded by Caleb Li and Gregory Falco calls itself “A Vaccine for Your IoT”. The platform which detects and neutralizes harmful programs while blacklisting the attack source recently won the first runner-up position in the MIT 100K Accelerate Competition.

NeuroMesh offers a botnet platform for the IoT and smartphones to join and assign the Command Control (CC) role to it. The lightweight software supports a range of smart devices including web cameras, smart meters, temperature sensors, smart watches, cars and more. To offer the promised protection, the NeuroMesh platform makes use of blockchain’s distributed ledger capabilities; mesh networking for an uninterrupted network; deep learning to detect new threats.

All IoT devices running the NeuroMesh software becomes part of a mesh network and gains access to the distributed ledger with an “access list” that enables them to identify their peers and recognize any potential threats. If a device detects a potential threat by using the deep learning capabilities, it will signal a vote to the command and control to blacklist that particular appliance. Upon receiving the vote, the CC will verify the threat and add the particular compromised device’s key to blacklist to effectively block it from the network.

In a document submitted by NeuroMesh as a part of its entry into the Atos IT Challenge offers a description of how the platform works. The platform makes use of the Ethereum blockchain and offers two different kinds of subscription packages to the users. The first package involves a regular monthly or annual fee payable by the device manufacturer or the end user and the second one follows a pay-per-attack model where a fee is charged for each deflected attack.

NeuroMesh is potentially the much-required solution in the IoT and smart devices segment. The increasing threat of attacks on anything connected to the internet offers a huge playground for the company.

Ref: MIT SAP | Atos IT Challenge | Image: Shutterstock