Message Queue Telemetry Transport - Communication

Have you heard about MQTT?

MQTT, which stands for Message Queue Telemetry Transport, is a publish or subscribe, lightweight messaging protocol designed for low-bandwidth communications with high latency. It is intended to be primarily used by machine to machine (M2M) or the Internet of Things (IoT) and telemetry data communications.

MQTT

The protocol was invented by Dr. Andy Stanford-Clark, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor, and Arlen Nipper of Arcom (now Eurotech) in 1999. You can see them talking about the protocol here.

Although the protocol is considered simple and lightweight, it can ensure reliability and some degree of assurance of delivery. You can find the MQ Telemetry Transport V3.1 Protocol Specification at the IBM developerWorks site.

For more information, there is an interesting IBM Redbooks publication Building Smarter Planet Solutions with MQTT and IBM WebSphere MQ Telemetry.

The MQTT FAQ is also a good resource for beginners.

Mobile applications and MQTT

With all these features, MQTT is becoming the de facto standard and the ideal protocol for all M2M and IoT applications, where we have many devices and sensors sending high volumes of messages continuously. However, MQTT is also being used by a growing number of mobile applications nowadays, mainly because MQTT seems to be a very smart choice for a protocol, as it demands fewer resources compared to many other protocols currently available for mobile application development.

One big example of a well-known application that uses MQTT is the Facebook Messenger client, and you can find out about its usage of the MQTT protocol here.

Also, there are many Android applications and Arduino applications starting to use MQTT as the main protocol.

MQTT and Eclipse tools

The website eclipse.org also supports MQTT, and it hosts and supports the Paho project.

The Eclipse Paho open source messaging project was proposed in late 2011 and is currently an incubator Eclipse project.

The initial contributions came from IBM as well as Eurotech in the form of Java and C clients. A Lua MQTT client was also contributed shortly after the project went live, and an MQTT JavaScript client is coming soon.

Other messaging protocols

While there are other messaging protocols, and while MQTT has been around for years now, it seems it is gaining traction as the de facto standard for M2M and IoT, as a recently created OASIS MQTT Technical Committee is now working on a common, standardized version of MQTT supported not only by IBM and Eurotech but also by Red Hat, Cisco and other companies.

So as it seems that MQTT is really becoming the definitive protocol for a Smarter Planet, would you use MQTT on your next mobile application? Do you see any advantages of using MQTT in more common mobile applications beyond M2M and IoT ones?

Let me know your opinion. Please provide feedback in the comments section or connect with me on Twitter.

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Fingerprint scanner or passcode: Which is more secure for the enterprise

When Apple launched the Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the new iPhone, the race was on to hack it. A crowd-funded website was set up, istouchidhacked.com, where people pledged money as incentive for the first person who could upload a video demonstrating the hack. It took only a few days for a hacking team called the Chaos Computer Club to do just that.

Fingerprint scanner or passcode

It took a much less sophisticated effort to learn that the passcode on my iPad had its own set of flaws. One evening I caught my four-year-old son picking up my iPad, no doubt in search of cartoons. To my astonishment he seamlessly entered my four-digit passcode and within seconds had the Netflix app streaming an episode of Curious George. I’d never told him my passcode; he’d simply watched me enter it time after time and had it memorized.

Trying to keep kids away from too many cartoons is one thing, but unauthorized access to a mobile device containing confidential enterprise data can be a whole lot more serious. So what’s the best way to protect your enterprise data?

Passcodes

Almost every smartphone can be secured with a four-digit passcode, which must be entered each time the phone is used or after a period of inactivity. Despite the almost universal availability of this feature, around 64 percent of mobile device users don’t use any form of screen lock. Of those that do use a passcode, about two-thirds use a four-digit pin, while the remainder use a longer pin, a password or an unlock pattern.

As my son demonstrated, a four-digit passcode can be relatively simple to break. A few glances at somebody unlocking their phone, and you’ll likely be able to deduce their passcode. A four-digit passcode is also susceptible to brute-force attacks (trying different combinations of passcodes until one works). It’s often not very difficult. According to a Time study, the most popular passcode is “1234,” followed by “0000.” Earlier versions of the iPhone and iPad could have their passcode cracked in under two minutes using malicious software.

Longer passcodes—actually passwords, as they consist of letters, numbers and other characters—make brute force attacks harder. But these suffer from the same deficiencies as passcodes (somebody can simply look over your shoulder to see what you entered), and often the user will write the password down so they will remember it, bringing more security concerns.

Fingerprint scanner

The Touch ID scanner on the iPhone 5s was one of the first fingerprint scanners to be added to a mobile device. It’s likely we’ll see this feature appearing on many more phones soon. Hacking Touch ID generated a lot of good headlines but did little to faze most security professionals.

Let me step you through the process. First, locate a pristine fingerprint that is authorized to unlock the phone (by itself not easy to find). Next, lift the print using a special type of glue and fingerprint powder to transfer the fingerprint to tape. Assuming you didn’t smudge the print you’re ready to start creating the fake fingerprint—with suitable experience it will take you a couple of hours and about $1,000 of equipment. Now give it a try, but you’d better cross your fingers as you only get five attempts before Touch ID will insist that you enter the passcode instead.

Clearly the everyday phone thief is not going to unlock your phone this way. Does that make fingerprint scanners safer than passcodes? Absolutely not—on the iPhone 5s you can at any point choose to unlock your phone with a passcode instead of the Touch ID sensor. So a fingerprint scanner is an alternative to passcodes but not a replacement.

Choosing the best option

Ultimately when it comes to security there is rarely a right answer. Nothing is completely secure. But some options are better than others. A four-digit passcode is better than no screen lock at all. A longer alphanumeric password or fingerprint scanner is better still.

The key is to ensure that whichever security policy you pick is enforced on all mobile devices where your enterprise data is stored. That’s where a mobile device management tool such as IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices can help. With this you can ensure the correct screen unlock policy is applied (and even if fingerprint scanners such as Touch ID are permitted). And should a mobile device get lost or stolen you can remotely wipe the device to protect your enterprise data.

And most important of all, beware of sharp-eyed children.

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Writing Your First Blog Post - Tips And Tricks

Recently a friend asked me a question that any business that begins blogging will have to answer; What should your first post be about?  That first post is terribly important, because it sets the tone for the blog, not just for the readers, but for the writers as well.

From the reader’s point of view, I would want to see four areas covered in your first blog post:

1 – Who you are. Tell me about your business, but also introduce me to the blog’s writers.  Share pictures.  The more information about yourself and your business that you are willing to share, the easier it will be for me as a reader to trust you.  This is very overlooked by many businesses but we want to see pictures of the people that work for your business and more importantly, those that will be writing for the blog.  It helps us identify and connect with them!

2 – Why you are blogging. Possibly the most important question you can answer, because it will force you to spell out your intentions to your audience.  And as always, consider your audience when answering this question, ask yourself, ‘Why would someone come to this blog, what would they be looking for?’  Hint: They won’t be coming to your blog so that you can market to them.  Maybe you want to share your thoughts on your industry with your readers, or maybe you want to teach them how to do a certain set of skills that tie into your business.  Another way to think about this is to ask yourself ‘What’s in it for the reader?’

3 – What will you be blogging about.  Answering the above question makes this one much easier to answer.  Will you be blogging about your business, or perhaps the lifestyles of your customers?  Spell out the content on your blog so that I know what to expect when I arrive.  And remember that this will also serve as a ‘bookmark’ for your writers to keep them focused on what the goal of your blog is.

4 – How I can leave feedback. Tell me how I can be involved.  Can I leave comments?  Do you encourage comments?  What if I want to email you?  Spell out exactly how I can contact you, and don’t be afraid to encourage feedback, and even disagreement.  In fact this would be a good place to formally spell-out your comment policy, which again can serve as a reference tool for your writers as well.  But do everything you can to make sure that my feedback is appreciated, and encouraged.  If possible, give readers ways to contact you online (such as an email address) and offline (such as your address and phone number).

If your first post contains these elements, I think your business blogging efforts will be off to a fine start!

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