Report from the Internet of Things Software Update (IoTSU) Workshop 2016
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Internet Architecture Board (IAB)                          H. Tschofenig
Request for Comments: 8240                                    S. Farrell
Category: Informational                                   September 2017
ISSN: 2070-1721

Report from the Internet of Things Software Update (IoTSU) Workshop 2016

Abstract

   This document provides a summary of the Internet of Things Software
   Update (IoTSU) Workshop that took place at Trinity College Dublin,
   Ireland on the 13th and 14th of June, 2016.  The main goal of the
   workshop was to foster a discussion on requirements, challenges, and
   solutions for bringing software and firmware updates to IoT devices.
   This report summarizes the discussions and lists recommendations to
   the standards community.

   Note that this document is a report on the proceedings of the
   workshop.  The views and positions documented in this report are
   those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect IAB
   views and positions.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
   and represents information that the IAB has deemed valuable to
   provide for permanent record.  It represents the consensus of the
   Internet Architecture Board (IAB).  Documents approved for
   publication by the IAB are not a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8240.

Tschofenig & Farrell          Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 8240                      IoTSU Report                September 2017

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Requirements and Questions Raised . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.  Authorizing a Software/Firmware Update  . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   5.  End-of-Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   6.  Incentives  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   7.  Measurements and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   8.  Firmware Distribution in Mesh Networks  . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   9.  Compromised Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   10. Miscellaneous Points  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   11. Tentative Conclusions and Next Steps  . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
   12. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   13. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   14. Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   Appendix A.  Program Committee  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
   Appendix B.  Accepted Position Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
   Appendix C.  List of Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27

Tschofenig & Farrell          Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 8240                      IoTSU Report                September 2017

1.  Introduction

   This document provides a summary of the Internet of Things Software
   Update (IoTSU) Workshop [IoTSU] that took place at Trinity College
   Dublin, Ireland on the 13th and 14th of June, 2016.  The main goal of
   the workshop was to foster a discussion on requirements, challenges,
   and solutions for bringing software and firmware updates to IoT
   devices.

   The views and positions in this report are those of the workshop
   participants and do not necessarily reflect those of their employers/
   sponsors, the authors of this memo, nor the Internet Architecture
   Board (IAB), under whose auspices the workshop was held.

   The IAB holds occasional workshops designed to consider long-term
   issues and strategies for the Internet, and to suggest future
   directions for the Internet architecture.  The topics investigated
   often require coordinated efforts of different organizations and
   industry bodies to improve an identified problem.  One of the goals
   of such workshops is to assist with communication between relevant
   organizations, companies, and universities, especially when the