In the world of retail technology, trust is everything; no one wants to shop anywhere that might allow their credit card data to be stolen. Indeed, a recent study found that consumers spend over 50% more with retailers they trust.
As we deploy more AI and connect more devices in physical stores, the cybersecurity attack surface expands, and the stakes for protecting sensitive data—from in-store video feeds to personalized customer information—become incredibly high.
At ZEDEDA, we’ve approached this challenge by building a platform that provides a holistic, Zero Trust security model designed for the distributed nature of the edge. This isn’t an afterthought; it’s an intrinsic part of our architecture.
Here are four ways in which ZEDEDA helps retailers address security concerns and protect their customer data:
1. Hardware-Level Root of Trust
The first line of defense is at the hardware level. Unlike a controlled data center, edge devices are often deployed in physically insecure environments, making them vulnerable to physical tampering, theft, and unauthorized access via local ports.
To counter this threat, ZEDEDA leverages hardware-based security features, such as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Each device has a unique cryptographic identity tied to its TPM chip, which cannot be cloned or spoofed. We use this root of trust for:
- Measured Boot: Measured Boot is a security process that cryptographically measures each component of the boot process before it executes, from the firmware to the operating system. These measurements are stored in a secure hardware component, like a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). This process creates an unchangeable record, allowing for remote attestation to verify the integrity and trustworthiness of an edge device’s boot state. If an attacker tries to insert malicious software, the device won’t decrypt encrypted data, keeping your customer data safe.
- Remote Attestation: We can cryptographically verify the integrity of the entire software stack on a device from our centralized controller. This provides continuous assurance that the edge device is running the expected, unmodified software.
Here’s how these features work together to protect you from common attacks:
| Scenario | Your Protection |
| An attacker steals the hard drive. | The vault remains encrypted. Even if the attacker puts the drive in another machine, they don’t have the TPM-sealed key to unlock it. |
| An attacker boots the device with a malicious USB drive. | The Measured Boot process will detect unauthorized software or hardware, resulting in different PCR values. The TPM will refuse to unseal the vault key, keeping your data safe. |
| A tampered device requests a secret from the cloud. | With remote attestation in enforce mode, the device will fail the security check. The ZEDEDA Cloud will not send the backup key, preventing the compromised device from accessing the vault. |
2. Zero Trust Architecture and Application Isolation
The Zero Trust security model dictates that we “never trust, always verify.” This is a core principle of the ZEDEDA platform, which operates on the following layers of security:
- No On-Site Credentials: We completely eliminate the ability to log into edge devices using usernames and passwords. All management and control are handled securely through our remote orchestration controller API, which uses strong, crypto-based authentication. This prevents an attacker with physical access from logging in and compromising the device.
- No SSH: EVE-OS, a Linux-based operating system for edge devices from the Linux Foundation, removes SSH – a popular Linux service that allows system administrators to remotely log into a device over a network. A hacker can’t break through a door that doesn’t exist.
- Per-Application Firewall: Each application and virtual machine running on our EVE-OS is automatically isolated in its own secure environment. We implement a distributed, per-application firewall that uses a “default-deny” policy. This means an application can only communicate with the network resources it is explicitly allowed to, preventing lateral movement and containing any potential security breaches.
- I/O Port Lockdown: We provide the ability to remotely disable and lock down physical ports like USB and Ethernet. This simple, yet critical, feature prevents unauthorized use of peripherals or the introduction of malware via a USB stick.
- Open Source: Since EVE-OS is open source, its code is available for security experts to inspect and highlight any security flaws. This level of intense peer review leads to software vulnerabilities being patched faster than with closed-source software, and is considered a best practice by security experts.
3. Data Privacy and Local Processing
When it comes to customer data, ZEDEDA’s architecture is a game-changer for privacy. Instead of sending sensitive data like video feeds from in-store cameras to the cloud, AI models process that data locally on the edge device. This approach ensures that sensitive data stays local, so that raw video and other sensitive information never leave the store. Only anonymized, non-sensitive insights (e.g., “customer count,” “product picked up”) are sent back to the cloud. Another benefit is that by processing large datasets at the source, you dramatically reduce the bandwidth and cloud storage costs associated with sending massive amounts of raw data – freeing up budget for other security projects to safeguard customer data.
4. Seamless, Secure Lifecycle Management
The reality of a distributed environment is that devices can go offline. Security patches and updates are critical, but how do you manage them in locations with intermittent connectivity or no on-site IT staff?
- Remote Updates: The ZEDEDA platform allows you to securely and remotely update the entire software stack—from the OS to the applications—in a single click. These updates are deployed as immutable artifacts, ensuring consistency and preventing errors.
- Automated Anomaly Detection: We provide the ability to monitor the health and performance of every edge device in your fleet. Our platform can detect anomalies and alert you to potential security issues in real-time.
By addressing these unique challenges with a Zero Trust security model, ZEDEDA allows retailers to confidently deploy AI and other transformative technologies at the edge, knowing that their infrastructure, applications, and customer data are protected from the ground up.
Customer trust to grow your revenue
Retail today has always been competitive, but today it’s more challenging than ever. You need to innovate in Retail with AI and edge computing, but you can’t sacrifice customer trust along the way. ZEDEDA helps you have the best of all worlds: fast innovation, high security, and strong customer trust.
Ready to learn more about how to modernize your retail technology stack and get the most out of your edge computing strategy? Find ZEDEDA this month at NRF Paris at booth #N111, ShopTalk Chicago at booth #C22, or book time to talk to a ZEDEDA expert today.
