Apparatus and method for sharing credentials in an internet of things (IoT) system
An apparatus and method are described for sharing WiFi credentials. For example, one embodiment of a method comprises: generating a first secret on a first IoT device, the first IoT device having WiFi credentials stored thereon; sharing the first secret with a second IoT device; encrypting the WiFi credentials on the first IoT device using the first secret to generate encrypted WiFi credentials; receiving the encrypted WiFi credentials from the first IoT device at an IoT service; encrypting the encrypted WiFi credentials at the IoT service using a second secret to generate twice-encrypted WiFi credentials, the second secret known by the second IoT device; transmitting the twice-encrypted WiFi credentials from the IoT service to the second IoT device; decrypting, at the second IoT device, the twice-encrypted WiFi credentials using the second secret to generate the encrypted WiFi credentials and decrypting the encrypted WiFi credentials using the first secret to generate the WiFi credentials; and establishing a secure WiFi connection on the second IoT device using the WiFi credentials.
1. A first Internet of Things (IoT) device comprising:
a memory to store WiFi credentials and program code;
encryption hardware logic to generate a first secret, to encrypt the WiFi credentials using the first secret to generate encrypted WiFi credentials, and to share the first secret, but not the encrypted WiFi credentials with a second IoT device;
a first network interface to transmit the encrypted WiFi credentials to an IoT service;
wherein the IoT service is to encrypt the encrypted WiFi credentials using a second secret known by the second IoT device to generate twice-encrypted WiFi credentials, and to transmit the twice-encrypted WiFi credentials to the second IoT device;
wherein the second IoT device is to decrypt the twice-encrypted WiFi credentials using the second secret to generate the encrypted WiFi credentials and decrypt the encrypted WiFi credentials using the first secret to generate the WiFi credentials; and
wherein the second IoT device is to establish a secure WiFi connection using the WiFi credentials.
2. The first IoT device as in claim 1 wherein sharing the first secret with the second IoT device comprises:
establishing a communication channel with the second IoT device via a client device.
3. The first IoT device as in claim 1 wherein generating the first secret comprises generating a random nonce.
4. The first IoT device as in claim 3 wherein the first IoT device transmits the encrypted WiFi credentials to the IoT service via the client device.
5. The first IoT device as in claim 1 wherein the first network interface comprises a WiFi or Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) communication interface to establish a communication link with the client device.