Open VPN

Secure tunnel solution for your business

As the range of connected devices expands with the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring sustainable practices becomes crucial. Pelion’s range of connectivity solutions promotes long-term sustainability and reliability with connection to and from a wide range of providers and services. Pelion OpenVPN service allows on-demand access to devices without disrupting existing VPN (Virtual Private Network) connections. Devices can easily be added to the network to allow for future growth. Using Pelion’s OpenVPN service unlocks the potential of simple, secure, and reliable IoT device access for your business.

The following will describe to you how:

• Pelion simplifies device access across diverse networks and device types;

• Pelion prioritises data protection;

• Pelion’s expertise in navigating complex network infrastructures ensures uninterrupted connectivity;

• Pelion accommodates the evolving IoT network with scalability.

Why Pelion OpenVPN

The IoT landscape is continually expanding, leading to an increase in interconnected physical devices, sensors, and systems. This infrastructure has created a disruptive innovation in how we interact with each other and devices over the internet, thereby enabling automation, remote monitoring and data driven decision-making across various sectors.

However, this seamless interconnectivity introduces significant security challenges, primarily revolving around secure remote accessibility and data transmission. OpenVPN is a service that creates a secured and encrypted connection between devices or networks. It operates by providing a secured pathway for data to travel securely over potentially insecure networks. Pelion’s OpenVPN service provides a robust and highly flexible VPN technology to allow secure ad-hoc access to your IoT devices. This service provides client access, enabling you or your engineers to access all your devices securely from a single point while still ensuring failover capability for reliable connectivity.

IoT devices are diverse with varying network configurations, infrastructures, and security requirements. Pelion’s OpenVPN service works seamlessly with our network and solutions, aimed at simplifying device access.

Our OpenVPN service works with a wide range of services, modern operating systems, devices, and network operators, thereby allowing you to access any IoT device you are deploying today.

Inadequate Security Measures and The Need for Device Access

IoT devices often prioritise accessibility and functionality over security for users who often require access to the company devices for monitoring or check-ups. This trade-off can lead to data theft, unauthorised access, significant cost, and service disruption. Pelion facilitates this on-demand access securely by making sure logging into your device is done by authenticated users within your business.

If your business requires occasional access to your IoT devices, Pelion’s OpenVPN service provides the ideal solution, acting as a secure tunnel between the VPN client and your IoT devices. Pelion’s OpenVPN service facilitates client-server communications whether you need to monitor your fleet of devices or perform quick “check-ups”, our OpenVPN service offers the flexibility and security you need. Pelion provides you with the ability to interact with IoT devices without compromising on security.
Robust security is paramount to a successful IoT deployment, considering the sensitivity of data and the potential risks of unauthorised access or data breaches. Organisations deploying IoT solutions must implement stringent security measures to safeguard sensitive data and protect against potential threats. These challenges multiply when organisations must manage security across an extensive array of devices, each with varying levels of security and engineering capabilities. Ensuring that all devices adhere to security best practices and protocols is an ongoing challenge that demands powerful and scalable solutions.

How OpenVPN works

Certificate-Based Security with Pelion OpenVPN
Threats could be issues such as data leaks/data theft, DNS leaks and Man-in-the-middle attacks (intercepted and altered traffic). OpenVPN, a certificate-based VPN which allows easy centralised user management, offers a secure method of encryption that protects IoT devices from potential threats by creating a secure tunnel for data transmission.

Pelion’s OpenVPN provides data protection, employing SSL/TLS encryption and the latest authentication mechanisms to secure connections across all your IoT devices when monitoring or troubleshooting. It is particularly recommended for businesses that require a high-level security and ease of key management.

Scalability and Simultaneous Multi-User Access
Pelion’s OpenVPN offers a scalable solution that can grow with your business transformation ideas, ensuring a secure connection is established for every new device. If your team, requires simultaneous access by multiple users, it is recommended to have one OpenVPN account per user, allowing every team member to gain access to all of your business’s IoT devices.

Scalability can be discussed at the time of implementation on how far you would like to ramp up within the solution or you can reach out to us at any time to grow your solution.

Uninterrupted Access with Failover Capability
Pelion’s OpenVPN ensures uninterrupted service by offering failover capability. If your primary VPN endpoint becomes unavailable, Pelion’s OpenVPN will enable your team to connect to a secondary endpoint without needing to change any configuration, as the connection is based on DNS (Domain Name System). This automatic switch to a secondary endpoint ensures that your entire team can maintain access to the full project even in case of connectivity issues.

To use Pelion’s OpenVPN, you will be provided with authentication details in the form of a certificate. Once loaded onto a VPN client, you can enjoy on-demand connections to subscribers, primarily for troubleshooting purposes.

It is important to note that this connection is per user, meaning concurrent sessions from the same credentials are not possible. If multiple users on your team require simultaneous access, Pelion recommends one account per user.

Simplicity for Users
A standardised approach to secure device connectivity reduces the complexity of device access and management, making it accessible to a wider range of users. Pelion empowers you to interact with your IoT devices seamlessly, providing a smooth and intuitive experience that enhances overall user satisfaction. Setting up your secured connectivity using our OpenVPN is easy and supported across a wide range of applications.

Example Use Case

Improving Collaborative Remote Monitoring with Pelion and OpenVPN

A global manufacturing firm implemented Pelion and OpenVPN to secure their IoT infrastructure. With a network of thousands of IoT devices, they had concerns about security and team-based access. The integration of Pelion and OpenVPN provided a reliable, secure way for the entire team to monitor these devices remotely. The solution also ensured scalability and easy management of user access, allowing for secure, ad-hoc access whenever required by any team member.

Another customer with CCTV across the United Kingdom was able to remotely login to their devices securely and upgrade their firmware. This saved the customer thousands of field engineer visits to manually update the company devices whenever the need arises.

SUMMARY

Pelion’s OpenVPN service provides a robust solution that solves security challenges presented by the rapidly expanding IoT landscape. It offers secure, ad-hoc, and collaborative access to your entire IoT deployment, with the added benefit of failover capabilities for uninterrupted service. This solution ensures the key requirements for a successful IoT deployment is attained, that is, it is reliable, sustainable, scalable, simple, and secured. By leveraging this powerful solution, engineering teams can confidently secure their IoT networks, ensure reliable remote access to the full project, and prepare for a sustainable connected future.

Pelion’s OpenVPN service is a comprehensive solution that offers a unified, secure, and scalable approach, allowing you and your business to confidently interact with all your IoT devices across diverse networks. To explore how Pelion’s OpenVPN service can streamline connectivity within your IoT deployment, consult with one of our experts.