Protecting the ‘internet of things’

One of the weakest links in any cybersecurity network is passwords, and if even one is uncovered, an entire system can fall apart.

New technology developed in South Korea to prevent and minimize possible damage is currently taking hold in the D.C. region.

“We created what we call a quantum entropy chip. We use quantum phenomena that is radioactive isotope decay, and we capture the randomness that comes out of this decay” to generate truly random numbers, Jongwon Park, chief strategy officer of cybersecurity firm EYL Inc.

“So when my friends ask me, what do you do? I tell them I sell chaos, disorder, randomness, and entropy,” he said. By generating truly random numbers as keys for encryption systems, it’s practically impossible to predict.

EYL moved from Korea because the US market was much larger, and more supportive of what Park calls an “open innovation model.”

“We always need to work with our partners to find applications that our end users need,” he said. “There are partners here in the U.S. that we’d like to work with.”

“The people in this field get it — immediately. I talk to people in the government sector, at the [the Department of Homeland Security] or [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency], and they’re like, ‘this is something that we really need’,” said Park.

The tiny chip used for this technology has a high potential for use in the Internet of Things market. “IoT security is big problem right now. Our chip is just small enough to fit in any kind of IoT devices, and that’s critical,” Park said.

When compared to the startup culture of America, Park says South Korea is quite similar, and growing fast. “We’re very informal, we work as a team, we all do our own thing, but we make decisions together,” he said.

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