Microsoft Corp.’s long-awaited Azure Sphere security service, aimed at protecting “internet of things” devices, finally hit general availability today, almost two years after launching in preview.

The company introduced Azure Sphere, which is based on a Microsoft-built Linux operating system, in March 2018. At the time, it said the technology came from a Microsoft Research project called Sopris.

“Azure Sphere is a fully realized security system that protects devices over time,” Halina McMaster, principal group program manager at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post. “It includes the Azure Sphere-certified chips that go into every device, the Azure Sphere operating system (OS) that runs on the chips, and the cloud-based Azure Sphere Security Service.”

The Azure Sphere chips are used to power microcontrollers, which are single-chip computers with processors, storage and memory, that are built into IoT devices. The first dedicated Azure Sphere chip launched in 2018 was the MediaTek MT3620, which came with an onboard security system called Pluton.

However, Microsoft said last year it’s also working with NXP Semiconductor NV on a newer chip for Azure Sphere called the I.MX 8, which has been built for artificial intelligence and graphics processing tasks. In addition, Microsoft is working with Qualcomm Inc. on another Azure Sphere-certified chip that will provide secure connectivity for IoT devices.

“Every Azure Sphere chip includes built-in Microsoft security technology to provide a dependable hardware root of trust and advanced security measures to guard against attacks,” McMaster said. “The Azure Sphere OS is designed to limit the potential reach of an attack and to make it possible to restore the health of the device if it’s ever compromised.”

McMaster said early adopters of Azure Sphere have used the service to design and produce a range of consumer appliances, retail and manufacturing equipment. The MediaTek MT3620 chips, for example, are being used as “guardian modules” to protect and connect mission-critical equipment, the company said.

The guardian module, about the same size as a pack of cards, enables existing IoT devices to connect to it securely via the cloud service.

Image: jefferb/pixabay