Patent Publication Number: US-11658953-B2

Title: System and method for implementing secure communications for internet of things (IoT) devices

Description:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates, in general, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing secure communications for IoT devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Recently, Internet of Things (“IoT”) communications have become more prevalent. As devices become more connected to each other, ease and risks of security or privacy breaches increase. Further, with the highly limited memory or random access memory (“RAM”) resources available in some IoT sensors, devices, and/or endpoints, secure communications amongst IoT capable devices become more difficult to implement. 
     Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for implementing communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing secure communications for IoT devices. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particular embodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label is associated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components. 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for implementing secure communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram illustrating a system comprising various examples of IoT Endpoints that can utilize the secure communications, in accordance with various embodiments, in some cases, via a computing device, several examples of which are shown. 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram illustrating another system for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  are flow diagrams illustrating various methods for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer or system hardware architecture, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a block diagram illustrating a networked system of computers, computing systems, or system hardware architecture, which can be used in accordance with various embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS 
     Overview 
     Various embodiments provide tools and techniques for implementing communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing secure communications for IoT devices. 
     In various embodiments, a gateway or computing device might provide connectivity between or amongst two or more IoT capable devices, by establishing an IoT protocol-based, autonomous machine-to-machine communication channel amongst the two or more IoT capable devices. For sensitive and/or private communications, the gateway or computing device might establish a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, autonomous machine-to-machine channel, thereby providing encrypted machine-to-machine communications amongst the two or more IoT capable devices, without any content of communications that are exchanged amongst the IoT capable devices over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     In some cases, the secure OTR communication session is based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. In some instances, the secure OTR communication session alternatively or additionally utilizes cryptographic protocols including, without limitation, one or more of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, malleable encryption, and/or the like. According to some embodiments, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel is established using an IoT protocol, while the secure OTR communication session is established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol is part of the IoT protocol. 
     Merely by way of example, in some cases, other communications or messaging protocols (and/or systems) may be implemented, including, but not limited to, one or more of MQ telemetry transport (“MQTT”; which is a publish-subscribe-based messaging protocol), extensible messaging and presence protocol (“XMPP”; which is a communications protocol for message-oriented middleware based on extensible markup language (“XML”)), universal plug and play (“UPnP”; which is a set of networking protocols that allows for seamless discover of networked devices and for establishment of functional network services for data sharing, communications, and entertainment amongst the discovered and connected devices), data distribution service (“DDS”; which is an machine-to-machines middleware (“m2m”) standard for enabling scalable, real-time, dependable, high-performance, and interoperable data exchanges between publishers and subscribers), advanced message queuing protocol (“AMQP”; which is an open standard application layer protocol for message-oriented middleware), constrained application protocol (“CoAP”; which is a software protocol that allows simple electronics devices to communicate interactively over a network (e.g., Internet)), secure hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTPS”; which is a protocol for secure communication over a computer network), supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”; which is a system for remote monitoring and control that operates with coded signals over communication channels), and/or the like. 
     Similar to secure chat off-the-record (herein referred to as “chat OTR”) functions between clients using InstantBird XMPP in TOR Messenger (an open source chat communications messaging platform, the secure OTR communications described herein for IoT applications ensures that communications between or amongst IoT capable devices are neither recorded nor logged. Rather than the TOR network that is used by Tor Messenger, the secure OTR communications utilize a service provider&#39;s network for transport of IoT protocol-based OTR communications. In some embodiments, similar to malleable chat OTR, secure OTR communications amongst the IoT capable devices might utilize one or more of malleable encryption, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and/or the like. Lightweight protocols are used to take into account the highly limited memory or RAM resources in some IoT sensors, devices, and/or endpoints, while offloading encryption and resource-intensive processing. The intent is to be able to provide additional layers of security across traditionally non-secure protocols, such as HTTP, non-transport layer security (“non-TLS”) channels, as well as across encrypted links (such as links using AES256 or greater encryption algorithms, or the like). This allows for security best practices and regulatory compliance with statutory, governmental, standards, or other frameworks including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI-DSS”), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”), the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (“CALEA”), and/or the like, while allowing for new standards to be defined that relate to data and/or communications hardening. 
     The following detailed description illustrates a few exemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one of skill in the art to practice such embodiments. The described examples are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, certain structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. Several embodiments are described herein, and while various features are ascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that the features described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated with other embodiments as well. By the same token, however, no single feature or features of any described embodiment should be considered essential to every embodiment of the invention, as other embodiments of the invention may omit such features. 
     Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers used herein to express quantities, dimensions, and so forth used should be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considered non-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompass both elements and components comprising one unit and elements and components that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically stated otherwise. 
     The tools provided by various embodiments include, without limitation, methods, systems, and/or software products. Merely by way of example, a method might comprise one or more procedures, any or all of which are executed by a computer system. Correspondingly, an embodiment might provide a computer system configured with instructions to perform one or more procedures in accordance with methods provided by various other embodiments. Similarly, a computer program might comprise a set of instructions that are executable by a computer system (and/or a processor therein) to perform such operations. In many cases, such software programs are encoded on physical, tangible, and/or non-transitory computer readable media (such as, to name but a few examples, optical media, magnetic media, and/or the like). 
     Various embodiments described herein, while embodying (in some cases) software products, computer-performed methods, and/or computer systems, represent tangible, concrete improvements to existing technological areas, including, without limitation, device-to-device communications technology, IoT communications technology, network security technology, network privacy protection technology, and/or the like. In other aspects, certain embodiments, can improve the functioning of user equipment or systems themselves (e.g., telecommunications equipment, network components, etc.), for example, by protecting communications between IoT endpoint devices or IoT capable devices, thereby protecting privacy or security of the IoT network or other network to which the IoT capable devices are connected, and/or the like. In particular, to the extent any abstract concepts are present in the various embodiments, those concepts can be implemented as described herein by devices, software, systems, and methods that involve specific novel functionality (e.g., steps or operations), such as establishing a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel amongst two or more IoT capable devices, and/or the like, to name a few examples, that extend beyond mere conventional computer processing operations. These functionalities can produce tangible results outside of the implementing computer system, including, merely by way of example, preventing recording or logging of content of communications over a secure OTR communication channel amongst two or more IoT capable devices, which may be observed or measured by customers and/or service providers. 
     In an aspect, a method might comprise providing, with a computing device, connectivity between a first device and a second device over at least one network, by establishing an Internet-of-Things (“IoT”) protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network that allows autonomous machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications. The method might further comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network, the secure OTR communication session providing encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     In some embodiments, the content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session might comprise at least one of information about the first device, information about the second device, information about a user associated with the first device, information about a user associated with the second device, information about dates or times of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor data content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     In some instances, the method might further comprise determining, with the computing device, whether one or more data packets of the plurality of data packets from the at least one of the first device and the second device contain sensitive information. In such cases, establishing the secure OTR communication session might be based at least in part on a determination that one or more data packets of the plurality of data packets from the at least one of the first device and the second device contain sensitive information. Alternatively, the method might further comprise receiving, with the computing device, an indication from at least one of the first device and the second device that at least one data packet of the plurality of data packets will likely contain sensitive information. In such cases, establishing the secure OTR communication session might be based at least in part on receiving the indication that at least one data packet of the plurality of data packets will likely contain sensitive information. In either case, the sensitive information might include at least one of information about a user associated with at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with a customer premises associated with the user who is associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with communications protocols used by one or both of the first device or the second device, or information about other users who are associated with the customer premises associated with the user who is associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, and/or the like. 
     Merely by way of example, according to some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session might be based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session might utilize one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. In some cases, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel might be established using an IoT protocol, the secure OTR communication session might be established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol might be part of the IoT protocol. 
     The computing device, in some embodiments, might comprise a gateway device including, without limitation, at least one of an optical network terminal (“ONT”), a network interface device (“NID”), an enhanced NID (“eNID”), a residential gateway (“RG”) device, a business gateway (“BG”) device, or a virtual gateway (“vG”) device, and/or the like, and the gateway device might be located at or near a customer premises associated with a user who is associated with one of the first device or the second device. Alternatively, the computing device might comprise at least one of an optical network terminal (“ONT”), a network interface device (“NID”), an enhanced NID (“eNID”), or a server computer, and/or the like, each of which is controlled by a network service provider. In some instances, the computing device might be one of the first device or the second device. 
     According to some embodiments, the first device and the second device each might comprise one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a network access point (“NAP”), a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like. The first device and the second device, in some cases, might be located in proximity to each other. Alternatively, the first device and the second device might be located at different geographic locations, and establishing the secure OTR communication session might comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure OTR communication session between the first device and the second device over the at least one network via one or more intermediary devices. In some instances, the at least one network might comprise one or more of a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), a wireless wide area network (“WWAN”), a virtual private network (“VPN”), the Internet, or an extranet, and/or the like. 
     In another aspect, a computing device might comprise at least one processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor. The non-transitory computer readable medium might have stored thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the computing device to: provide connectivity between a first device and a second device over at least one network, by establishing an Internet-of-Things (“IoT”) protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network that allows autonomous machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications; and establish a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network, the secure OTR communication session providing encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     In some instances, the secure OTR communication session might be based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session might utilize one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. 
     In yet another aspect, an Internet-of-Things (“IoT”) capable device might be provided. The IoT capable device might comprise at least one processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor. The non-transitory computer readable medium might have stored thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the IoT capable device to send information to a second IoT capable device over a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session that is established within an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device over at least one network, the secure OTR communication session providing encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device, without the information being recorded or logged. 
     In some embodiments, the information might comprise at least one of information about the IoT capable device, information about the second IoT capable device, information about a user associated with the IoT capable device, information about a user associated with the second IoT capable device, information about dates or times of the communications exchanged between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     Merely by way of example, the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device might each comprise one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a network access point (“NAP”), a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session might be based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session might utilize one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. 
     Various modifications and additions can be made to the embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combination of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features. 
     Specific Exemplary Embodiments 
     We now turn to the embodiments as illustrated by the drawings.  FIGS.  1 - 6    illustrate some of the features of the method, system, and apparatus for implementing communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, as referred to above. The methods, systems, and apparatuses illustrated by  FIGS.  1 - 6    refer to examples of different embodiments that include various components and steps, which can be considered alternatives or which can be used in conjunction with one another in the various embodiments. The description of the illustrated methods, systems, and apparatuses shown in  FIGS.  1 - 6    is provided for purposes of illustration and should not be considered to limit the scope of the different embodiments. 
     With reference to the figures,  FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram illustrating a system  100  for implementing secure communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, in accordance with various embodiments. In the non-limiting embodiment of  FIG.  1   , system  100  might comprise a first IoT Endpoint  105  and a second IoT Endpoint  110 . In some embodiments, the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  might each include, but are not limited to, one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a network access point (“NAP”), a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like.  FIG.  2    also describes other embodiments of IoT Endpoints. The various embodiments, however, are not limited to the specific examples as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  and  2   , and can be implemented with any IoT Endpoint, as appropriate or as desired. 
     System  100  might further comprise a computing system  115 , which might communicatively couple to each of the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  via network  120  and, in some cases, via one or more telecommunications relay systems  125 . The computing system  115 , according to some embodiments, might include, without limitation, one or more of an optical network terminal (“ONT”), a network interface device (“NID”), an enhanced NID (“eNID”), a residential gateway (“RG”) device, a business gateway (“BG”) device, a virtual gateway (“vG”) device, a server computer, and/or other computing device, or the like. In some cases, the other computing device might itself be one of the first IoT Endpoint  105  or the second IoT Endpoint  110 . In some cases, the network  120  might include, but is not limited to, one or more of a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), a wireless wide area network (“WWAN”), a virtual private network (“VPN”), the Internet, or an extranet, and/or the like. Other networks that can be implemented as network  120  are described below with reference to  FIG.  6   . The one or more telecommunications relay systems  125  might include, without limitation, one or more wireless network interfaces (e.g., wireless modems, wireless access points, and the like), one or more towers, one or more satellites, and/or the like. 
     System  100 , in some aspects, might further comprise a data lake  130 , an analytics engine  135 , one or more application service providers (“ASPs”) or ASP servers  145 , and/or one or more user devices  155 . Each of the analytics engine  135 , the one or more ASP servers  145 , and the one or more user devices  155  might communicatively couple to the data lake  130  via the network  120  (in some cases, via the one or more telecommunications relay systems  125 ). The analytics engine  135  might, in some instances, communicatively couple to database  140  (which might be local to, or remote from, the analytics engine  135 ). The one or more ASP servers  145  might, in some cases, individually communicatively couple to each of databases  150  (which might be local to, or remote from, each of the one or more ASP servers  145 ) or collectively communicatively couple to one or more of databases  150  (at least one of which might be local to one of the one or more ASP servers  145 , or all of which might be remote from each of the one or more ASP servers  145 ). In some embodiments, the one or more user devices  155  might include, without limitation, a desktop computer  155   a , a laptop computer  155   b , and/or one or more mobile user devices  160 . The one or more mobile user devices  160  might include, but are not limited to, a tablet computer  160   a , a smart phone  160   b , a mobile phone  160   c , a portable gaming device  160   d , and/or the like. 
     In operation, one of the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  might communicate with the other of the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel over the network  120 . The IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel allows for autonomous machine-to-machine communications between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110 , without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications. In some cases, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel might be established by or via the computing device  115 . In some embodiments, particularly for sensitive or secure information exchange, the computing device  115  might establish a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110 . The secure OTR communication session provides encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110 , without any content of communications that is exchanged between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     In some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session is based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session utilizes one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. In some instances, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel is established using an IoT protocol, while the secure OTR communication session is established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol is part of the IoT protocol. 
     Merely by way of example, in some cases, other communications or messaging protocols (and/or systems) may be implemented, including, but not limited to, one or more of MQ telemetry transport (“MQTT”; which is a publish-subscribe-based messaging protocol), extensible messaging and presence protocol (“XMPP”; which is a communications protocol for message-oriented middleware based on extensible markup language (“XML”)), universal plug and play (“UPnP”; which is a set of networking protocols that allows for seamless discover of networked devices and for establishment of functional network services for data sharing, communications, and entertainment amongst the discovered and connected devices), data distribution service (“DDS”; which is an machine-to-machines middleware (“m2m”) standard for enabling scalable, real-time, dependable, high-performance, and interoperable data exchanges between publishers and subscribers), advanced message queuing protocol (“AMQP”; which is an open standard application layer protocol for message-oriented middleware), constrained application protocol (“CoAP”; which is a software protocol that allows simple electronics devices to communicate interactively over a network (e.g., Internet)), secure hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTPS”; which is a protocol for secure communication over a computer network), supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”; which is a system for remote monitoring and control that operates with coded signals over communication channels), and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  might be located in proximity to each other (e.g., in the same customer premises, within line of sight, within wireless communications range, and/or the like). Alternatively, the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  might be located at different geographic locations, and establishing the secure OTR communication session might comprise establishing, with the computing device  115 , a secure OTR communication session between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the network  120  via one or more intermediary devices (e.g., via the one or more telecommunications relay systems  125 , servers, network switches, other intermediary devices, or the like). 
     In some embodiments, the content of communications that is exchanged between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the secure OTR communication session includes, without limitation, at least one of information about the first IoT Endpoint  105 , information about the second IoT Endpoint  110 , information about a user associated with the first IoT Endpoint  105 , information about a user associated with the second IoT Endpoint  110 , information about dates or times of the communications exchanged between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor data content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     The data lake  130 , according to some embodiments, might store characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications) that are exchanged between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110  over the secure OTR communication session. For non-OTR communications, the data lake  130  may store content of the communications in addition to the characteristics of the communications, according to customary data collection patterns (which may be based at least in part on user preferences, service provider defaults, and/or the like). The analytics engine  135  might analyze the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), which may be retrieved or otherwise accessed from the data lake  130 , to ensure secure transmission of data or other content during the secure OTR communication session. The analytics engine  135  might store the characteristics of the communications and/or the resultant analysis of the characteristics of the communications in database  140 . 
     The one or more ASP servers  145  might receive, retrieve, or otherwise access, from data lake  130 , notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the computing device  115 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to ASPs, as feedback or the like for improving existing apps or software for the IoT Endpoints  105  and/or  110  (or for improving communications in general, or the like), for developing new apps or software for the IoT Endpoints  105  and/or  110 , for improving and/or developing user interfaces for user devices  155  for interacting with, setting up, and/or selecting preferences associated with each of the first IoT Endpoint  105  and/or the second IoT Endpoint  110 , and/or the like. 
     The one or more user devices  155 , in some cases, might receive, retrieve, or otherwise access, from data lake  130 , notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications between the first IoT Endpoint  105  and the second IoT Endpoint  110 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the computing device  115 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to the user(s) associated with the one or more user devices  155 . 
     Although two IoT Endpoints are shown and described with respect to  FIG.  1   , the various embodiments are not so limited, and any suitable number of IoT Endpoints may be implemented, with communications between two such IoT Endpoints at a time (in a manner similar to that as described above with respect to  FIG.  1   ), or amongst two or more such IoT Endpoints at a time (as described below with respect to  FIGS.  2  and  3   ). 
       FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram illustrating a system  200  comprising various examples of IoT Endpoints that can utilize the secure communications, in accordance with various embodiments, in some cases, via a computing device, several examples of which are shown. In the non-limiting embodiment of  FIG.  2   , system  200  might comprise two or more IoT endpoints  205  and one or more computing devices/brokers/gateway devices  210  that are communicatively coupled—in some cases, via wireless communications, which might include, without limitation, IoT communications protocol, and/or the like (as represented, for example, by the lightning bolts in  FIG.  2   ). 
     In some embodiments, the two or more IoT endpoints  205  might each include, without limitation, one of a desktop computer  205   a , a laptop computer  205   b , a tablet computer  205   c , a smart phone  205   d , a mobile phone  205   e , a portable gaming device  205   f , a database or data storage device  205   g , a network access point (“NAP”)  205   h , a television or monitor  205   i , a set-top box (“STB”)  205   j , a gaming console  205   k , an image capture device  205   l , a video capture device  205   m , a time piece  205   n  (including, without limitation, a clock, a watch, or other time piece, and the like), a thermostat or environmental control system  205   o , a kitchen appliance  205   p  (including, but not limited to, a microwave oven, a refrigerator, an oven, a range, a stove, an induction cooktop, a pressure cooker, a rice cooker, a bread maker, a coffee machine, a kettle, a dishwasher, a food thermometer, and/or the like), a medical device  205   q , a telephone system  205   r , a speaker  205   s , a media recording and/or playback device  205   t , a lighting system  205   u , a customer premises security control system  205   v , and/or other IoT endpoint devices  205   w . In some cases, the other IoT endpoint devices  205   w  might include, without limitation, a personal digital assistant, a fitness tracking device, a printer, a scanner, an image projection device, a video projection device, a vehicle, an audio headset, sensing device (e.g., temperature sensor, light sensor, audio sensor, motion sensor, proximity sensor, carbon monoxide sensor, smoke detector, and/or the like), a door locking system, a window locking system, a window covering system, a sprinkler system, and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the one or more computing devices/brokers/gateway devices  210  might each include, but are not limited to, an optical network terminal (“ONT”)  210   a , a network interface device (“NID”)  210   b , an enhanced NID (“eNID”)  210   c , a residential gateway (“RG”) device  210   d , a business gateway (“BG”) device  210   e , a virtual gateway (“vG”) device  210   f , a server computer  210   g , and/or other computing device  210   h . In some cases, the other computing device  210   h  might be one of the IoT Endpoints  205 . 
     In operation, one of the IoT Endpoints  205  might communicate with one or more others of the IoT Endpoints  205  over an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel (which allows for autonomous machine-to-machine communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  205 , without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications). In some cases, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel might be established by or via the one or more computing devices/brokers/gateway devices  210 . In some embodiments, particularly for sensitive or secure information exchange, the one or more computing devices/brokers/gateway devices  210  might establish a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  205 . The secure OTR communication session provides encrypted machine-to-machine communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  205 , without any content of communications that is exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  205  over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram illustrating another system  300  for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, in accordance with various embodiments. In  FIG.  3   , system  300  might comprise a first IoT Endpoint device  305   a , a second IoT Endpoint device  305   b , through an N th  IoT Endpoint device  305   n  (collectively, “IoT Endpoint(s)” or “IoT Endpoint device(s)”  305 ). Each IoT Endpoint  305 —which might correspond to one of the IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 , or  205  of  FIGS.  1  and  2   —might, for example, include, without limitation, one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a network access point (“NAP”), a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like. 
     System  300  might further comprise a broker/gateway device  315  (which might correspond to one of computing device  115  or  210 , or broker/gateway  210  of  FIGS.  1  and  2   , and/or the like), a computing device  320  (which might also correspond to one of computing device  115  or  210 , or broker/gateway  210  of  FIGS.  1  and  2   , and/or the like), a data lake  330  (which might correspond to data lake  130  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like), an analytics engine (which might correspond to analytics engine  135  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like), one or more ASPs or ASP servers  345  (which might correspond to ASP server  145  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like), and one or more user devices  355  (which might correspond to user devices  155  or mobile user devices  160  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like). 
     Merely by way of example, the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320  might, in some embodiments, comprise a gateway device including, without limitation, at least one of an optical network terminal (“ONT”), a network interface device (“NID”), an enhanced NID (“eNID”), a residential gateway (“RG”) device, a business gateway (“BG”) device, or a virtual gateway (“vG”) device, and the gateway device is located at or near a customer premises associated with a user associated with one of the first through N th  IoT Endpoints  305   a - 305   n . Alternatively, or additionally, the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320  might include, but is not limited to, at least one of an ONT, a NID, an eNID, or a server computer, each of which is controlled by a network service provider. In yet other embodiments, the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320  might itself be one of the first through N th  IoT Endpoints  305   a - 305   n . The one or more user devices  355  might include, but are not limited to, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, smart phones, mobile phones, portable gaming devices, and/or the like. 
     In operation, similar to the system  100  of  FIG.  1   , the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320  might provide connectivity between or amongst two or more IoT Endpoints  305  of the first through N th  IoT Endpoints  305   a - 305   n , by establishing an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between or amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  that allows autonomous machine-to-machine communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications. According to some embodiments, the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320  might establish a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 . The secure OTR communication session provides encrypted machine-to-machine communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , without any content of communications that is exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     In some cases, the content of communications that is exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  over the secure OTR communication session includes, without limitation, at least one of information about one of the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , information about a user associated with the one of the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , information about dates or times of the communications exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor data content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     The data lake  330 , according to some embodiments, might store characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications) that are exchanged amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  over the secure OTR communication session. The analytics engine  335  might analyze the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), which may be retrieved or otherwise accessed from the data lake  330 , to ensure secure transmission of data or other content during the secure OTR communication session. The one or more ASP servers  345  might receive, retrieve, or otherwise access, from data lake  330 , notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to ASPs, as feedback or the like for improving existing apps or software for the IoT Endpoints  305  (or for improving communications in general, or the like), for developing new apps or software for the IoT Endpoints  305 , for improving and/or developing user interfaces for user devices  355  for interacting with, setting up, and/or selecting preferences associated with each of the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , and/or the like. 
     The one or more user devices  355 , in some cases, might receive, retrieve, or otherwise access, from data lake  330 , notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to the user(s) associated with the one or more user devices  355 . 
     In some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session is based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session utilizes one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. In some instances, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel is established using an IoT protocol, while the secure OTR communication session is established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol is part of the IoT protocol. Merely by way of example, in some cases, other communications or messaging protocols (and/or systems) may be implemented, including, but not limited to, one or more of MQ telemetry transport (“MQTT”), extensible messaging and presence protocol (“XMPP”), universal plug and play (“UPnP”), data distribution service (“DDS”), advanced message queuing protocol (“AMQP”), constrained application protocol (“CoAP”), secure hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTPS”), supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”), and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  might be located in proximity to each other (e.g., in the same customer premises, within line of sight, within wireless communications range, and/or the like). Alternatively, the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  might be located at different geographic locations, and establishing the secure OTR communication session might comprise establishing, with the broker/gateway device  315  or the computing device  320 , a secure OTR communication session amongst the two or more IoT Endpoints  305  via one or more intermediary devices, or the like. 
     Merely by way of example, in some aspects, a publish/subscribe or pub/sub scheme might be implemented. Herein, “publish/subscribe” or “pub/sub” might refer to a messaging pattern in which senders of messages (called “publishers”) publish messages into classes—in some cases, without knowledge of which subscribers, if any, there may be—, and receivers of the messages (called “subscribers”) express interest in one or more classes of messages and only receive messages that are of interest—in some cases, without knowledge of which publishers, if any, there may be. As shown in the non-limiting embodiment of  FIG.  3   , each of the IoT Endpoints  305  might subscribe to the broker/gateway  315 , and might also publish to the broker/gateway  315 . The messages that are received by the subscriber IoT Endpoints  305  and the messages that are published by the publisher IoT Endpoints  305  might include, without limitation, the content of messages (that during the OTR communication session, would not themselves be recorded or logged anywhere, but that during a non-OTR communication session may be recorded or logged in a database (e.g., data lake  330 )), characteristics of the communications (which are separate from the content of communications), and/or the like. 
     The broker/gateway  315  might publish characteristics of the communications to the data lake  330 . For non-OTR communications, the broker/gateway  315  may also publish some or all of the content of the communications amongst two or more of the IoT Endpoints  305  and/or communications between one of the IoT Endpoints  305  and the broker/gateway  315 . In some embodiments, the broker/gateway publish characteristics of the communications (and, for non-OTR communications, may also publish some or all of the content of the communications amongst two or more of the IoT Endpoints  305  and/or communications between one of the IoT Endpoints  305  and the broker/gateway  315 ) to the computing device  320  (if any are implemented in system  300 ). The broker/gateway  315 , in some cases, may also subscribe to the computing device  320  (if any are implemented in system  300 ). In those embodiments in which the computing device  320  is implemented, the computing device  320  might subscribe to the data lake  330 , and might also publish to the data lake  330 . The data lake  330  might publish to each of the analytics engine  335 , the one or more ASP servers  345 , and the one or more user devices  355 . Each communication path (i.e., a path between one IoT endpoint  305  and the broker/gateway  315 , a path between the broker/gateway  315  and the computing device  320 , a path between the broker/gateway  315  and the data lake  330 , a path between the computing device  320  and the data lake  330 , a path between the data lake  330  and each of the analytics engine  335 , each ASP server  345 , or each user device  355 ) leverages OTR communications through their respective IoT protocol. 
       FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  (collectively, “ FIG.  4   ”) are flow diagrams illustrating various methods  400  and  400 ′ for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, in accordance with various embodiments. While the techniques and procedures are depicted and/or described in a certain order for purposes of illustration, it should be appreciated that certain procedures may be reordered and/or omitted within the scope of various embodiments. Moreover, while the method  400  or  400 ′ illustrated by  FIG.  4    can be implemented by or with (and, in some cases, are described below with respect to) the systems  100 ,  200 , and  300  of  FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3   , respectively (or components thereof), such methods may also be implemented using any suitable hardware (or software) implementation. Similarly, while each of the systems  100 ,  200 , and  300  of  FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3   , respectively (or components thereof), can operate according to the method  400  or  400 ′ illustrated by  FIG.  4    (e.g., by executing instructions embodied on a computer readable medium), the systems  100 ,  200 , and  300  of  FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3    can each also operate according to other modes of operation and/or perform other suitable procedures. 
     Turning to  FIG.  4 A , method  400 , at block  405 , might comprise providing, with a computing device (e.g., computing device  115 ,  210 , or  320 , or broker/gateway  210  or  315  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like), connectivity between a first device (e.g., one or more of IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like) and a second device (e.g., another one or more of IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like) over at least one network (e.g., network  120  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like), by establishing an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network that allows autonomous machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications. 
     In some embodiments, the computing device might comprise a gateway device including, without limitation, at least one of an optical network terminal (“ONT”), a network interface device (“NID”), an enhanced NID (“eNID”), a residential gateway (“RG”) device, a business gateway (“BG”) device, or a virtual gateway (“vG”) device, and the gateway device is located at or near a customer premises associated with a user associated with one of the first device or the second device. Alternatively, or additionally, the computing device might include, but is not limited to, at least one of an ONT, a NID, an eNID, or a server computer, each of which is controlled by a network service provider. In yet other embodiments, the computing device might itself be one of the first device or the second device. 
     Merely by way of example, according to some embodiments, the first device and the second device might each include, without limitation, one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a network access point (“NAP”), a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like. In some cases, the at least one network might include, but is not limited to, one or more of a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), a wireless wide area network (“WWAN”), a virtual private network (“VPN”), the Internet, or an extranet, and/or the like. 
     At block  410 , method  400  might further comprise determining, with the computing device, whether one or more data packets of the plurality of data packets from the at least one of the first device and the second device contain sensitive information. In some embodiments, the sensitive information might include, without limitation, at least one of information about a user associated with at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with a customer premises associated with the user associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with communications protocols used by one or both of the first device or the second device, or information about other users who are associated with the customer premises associated with the user associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, and/or the like. 
     Based at least in part on a determination (by the computing device) that one or more data packets of the plurality of data packets from the at least one of the first device and the second device contain sensitive information, method  400  might further comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network (block  415 ). The secure OTR communication session provides encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     Merely by way of example, in some cases, the content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session might include, but is not limited to, at least one of information about the first device, information about the second device, information about a user associated with the first device, information about a user associated with the second device, information about dates or times of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor data content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session is based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session utilizes one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. In some instances, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel is established using an IoT protocol, while the secure OTR communication session is established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol is part of the IoT protocol. Merely by way of example, in some cases, other communications or messaging protocols (and/or systems) may be implemented, including, but not limited to, one or more of MQ telemetry transport (“MQTT”), extensible messaging and presence protocol (“XMPP”), universal plug and play (“UPnP”), data distribution service (“DDS”), advanced message queuing protocol (“AMQP”), constrained application protocol (“CoAP”), secure hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTPS”), supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”), and/or the like. 
     In some embodiments, the first device and the second device might be located in proximity to each other (e.g., located in the same customer premises, located within line of sight, located within wireless communications range, and/or the like). Alternatively, the first device and the second device might be located at different geographic locations, and establishing the secure OTR communication session might comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session between the first device and the second device over the at least one network via one or more intermediary devices, or the like. 
     With reference to  FIG.  4 B , which is an alternative implementation compared with method  400  of  FIG.  4 A , method  400 ′, at block  405 , might be the same or similar to block  405  of method  400 , and might comprise providing, with a computing device (e.g., computing device  115 ,  210 , or  320 , or broker/gateway  210  or  315  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like), connectivity between a first device (e.g., one or more of IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like) and a second device (e.g., one or more of IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like) over at least one network (e.g., network  120  of  FIG.  1   , and/or the like), by establishing an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network that allows autonomous machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any user interaction or any user input during the autonomous machine-to-machine communications. 
     In some embodiments, the computing device might comprise a gateway device including, without limitation, at least one of an ONT, a NID, an eNID, a RG device, a BG device, or a vG device, and the gateway device is located at or near a customer premises associated with a user associated with one of the first device or the second device. Alternatively, or additionally, the computing device might include, but is not limited to, at least one of an ONT, a NID, an eNID, or a server computer, each of which is controlled by a network service provider. In yet other embodiments, the computing device might itself be one of the first device or the second device. 
     Merely by way of example, according to some embodiments, the first device and the second device might each include, without limitation, one of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a printer, a scanner, a data storage device, a NAP, a television, a set-top box, an image capture device, an image projection device, a video capture device, a video projection device, a watch, a clock, a gaming console, a thermostat, a kitchen appliance, a medical device, a vehicle, a speaker, an audio headset, a telephone system, a media recording device, a media playback device, a lighting system, a sensing device, a door locking system, a customer premises security control system, a window locking system, a window covering system, or a sprinkler system, and/or the like. In some cases, the at least one network might include, but is not limited to, one or more of a LAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a VPN, the Internet, or an extranet, and/or the like. 
     At block  420 , method  400 ′ might further comprise receiving, with the computing device, an indication from at least one of the first device and the second device that at least one data packet of the plurality of data packets will likely contain sensitive information. In some embodiments, the sensitive information might include, without limitation, at least one of information about a user associated with at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with a customer premises associated with the user associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, information associated with communications protocols used by one or both of the first device or the second device, or information about other users who are associated with the customer premises associated with the user associated with the at least one of the first device or the second device, and/or the like. 
     Based at least in part on receiving the indication that at least one data packet of the plurality of data packets will likely contain sensitive information, method  400 ′ might further comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session within the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the first device and the second device over the at least one network (block  425 ). The secure OTR communication session provides encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the first device and the second device, without any content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session being recorded or logged. 
     Merely by way of example, in some cases, the content of communications that is exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session might include, but is not limited to, at least one of information about the first device, information about the second device, information about a user associated with the first device, information about a user associated with the second device, information about dates or times of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, or one or more of data content, text content, recorded voice content, image content, video content, sensor data content, or instruction content of the communications exchanged between the first device and the second device over the secure OTR communication session, and/or the like. 
     According to some embodiments, the secure OTR communication session is based at least in part on off-the-record messaging protocol. Alternatively, or additionally, the secure OTR communication session utilizes one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques selected from a group consisting of AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, and malleable encryption, and/or the like. In some instances, the IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel is established using an IoT protocol, while the secure OTR communication session is established using an OTR communication protocol, and the OTR communication protocol is part of the IoT protocol. Merely by way of example, in some cases, other communications or messaging protocols (and/or systems) may be implemented, including, but not limited to, one or more of MQ telemetry transport (“MQTT”), extensible messaging and presence protocol (“XMPP”), universal plug and play (“UPnP”), data distribution service (“DDS”), advanced message queuing protocol (“AMQP”), constrained application protocol (“CoAP”), secure hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTPS”), supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”), and/or the like. 
     In some embodiments, the first device and the second device might be located in proximity to each other (e.g., in the same customer premises, within line of sight, within wireless communications range, and/or the like). Alternatively, the first device and the second device are located at different geographic locations, and establishing the secure OTR communication session might comprise establishing, with the computing device, a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session between the first device and the second device over the at least one network via one or more intermediary devices, or the like. 
     Although not shown in  FIG.  4   , from the perspective of one of the first device or second device (i.e., IoT capable device or IoT Endpoint device, as described in detail above with respect to  FIGS.  1 - 4   ), the IoT capable device might send information to a second IoT capable device over a secure off-the-record (“OTR”) communication session that is established within an IoT protocol-based, machine-to-machine communication channel between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device over at least one network, the secure OTR communication session providing encrypted machine-to-machine communications between the IoT capable device and the second IoT capable device, without the information being recorded or logged. The information might be the same or similar to that as described above. Likewise, the secure OTR communication session might be the same or similar to that as described above. 
     Exemplary System and Hardware Implementation 
       FIG.  5    is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer or system hardware architecture, in accordance with various embodiments.  FIG.  5    provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computer system  500  of the service provider system hardware that can perform the methods provided by various other embodiments, as described herein, and/or can perform the functions of computer or hardware system (i.e., IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305 , computing devices  115 ,  210 , and/or  320 , broker/gateway  210  and/or  315 , analytics engines  135  and/or  335 , application service providers (“ASPs”) or ASP servers  145  and/or  345 , user devices  155  and/or  355 , mobile user devices  160 , etc.), as described above. It should be noted that  FIG.  5    is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, of which one or more (or none) of each may be utilized as appropriate.  FIG.  5   , therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integrated manner. 
     The computer or hardware system  500 —which might represent an embodiment of the computer or hardware system (i.e., IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305 , computing devices  115 ,  210 , and/or  320 , broker/gateway  210  and/or  315 , analytics engines  135  and/or  335 , application service providers (“ASPs”) or ASP servers  145  and/or  345 , user devices  155  and/or  355 , mobile user devices  160 , etc.), described above with respect to  FIGS.  1 - 3   —is shown comprising hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus  505  (or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include one or more processors  510 , including, without limitation, one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors (such as microprocessors, digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, and/or the like); one or more input devices  515 , which can include, without limitation, a mouse, a keyboard, sensors, and/or the like; and one or more output devices  520 , which can include, without limitation, a display device, a printer, indicator lights, and/or the like. 
     The computer or hardware system  500  may further include (and/or be in communication with) one or more storage devices  525 , which can comprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage, and/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, including, without limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/or the like. 
     The computer or hardware system  500  might also include a communications subsystem  530 , which can include, without limitation, a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, a wireless communication device and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an 802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, a WWAN device, cellular communication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem  530  may permit data to be exchanged with a network (such as the network described below, to name one example), with other computer or hardware systems, and/or with any other devices described herein. In many embodiments, the computer or hardware system  500  will further comprise a working memory  535 , which can include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. 
     The computer or hardware system  500  also may comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within the working memory  535 , including an operating system  540 , device drivers, executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or more application programs  545 , which may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments (including, without limitation, hypervisors, VMs, and the like), and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided by other embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one or more procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed above might be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by a computer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then, such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods. 
     A set of these instructions and/or code might be encoded and/or stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as the storage device(s)  525  described above. In some cases, the storage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, such as the system  500 . In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from a computer system (i.e., a removable medium, such as a compact disc, etc.), and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take the form of executable code, which is executable by the computer or hardware system  500  and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on the computer or hardware system  500  (e.g., using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities, etc.) then takes the form of executable code. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware (such as programmable logic controllers, field-programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits, and/or the like) might also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, apps, etc.), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. 
     As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ a computer or hardware system (such as the computer or hardware system  500 ) to perform methods in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to a set of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods are performed by the computer or hardware system  500  in response to processor  510  executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which might be incorporated into the operating system  540  and/or other code, such as an application program  545 ) contained in the working memory  535 . Such instructions may be read into the working memory  535  from another computer readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)  525 . Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the working memory  535  might cause the processor(s)  510  to perform one or more procedures of the methods described herein. 
     The terms “machine readable medium” and “computer readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodiment implemented using the computer or hardware system  500 , various computer readable media might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)  510  for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, a computer readable medium is a non-transitory, physical, and/or tangible storage medium. In some embodiments, a computer readable medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, or the like. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as the storage device(s)  525 . Volatile media includes, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory  535 . In some alternative embodiments, a computer readable medium may take the form of transmission media, which includes, without limitation, coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise the bus  505 , as well as the various components of the communication subsystem  530  (and/or the media by which the communications subsystem  530  provides communication with other devices). In an alternative set of embodiments, transmission media can also take the form of waves (including, without limitation, radio, acoustic, and/or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications). 
     Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code. 
     Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s)  510  for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer. A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to be received and/or executed by the computer or hardware system  500 . These signals, which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals, optical signals, and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves on which instructions can be encoded, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
     The communications subsystem  530  (and/or components thereof) generally will receive the signals, and the bus  505  then might carry the signals (and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to the working memory  535 , from which the processor(s)  505  retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by the working memory  535  may optionally be stored on a storage device  525  either before or after execution by the processor(s)  510 . 
     As noted above, a set of embodiments comprises methods and systems for implementing communications for Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing secure communications for IoT devices.  FIG.  6    illustrates a schematic diagram of a system  600  that can be used in accordance with one set of embodiments. The system  600  can include one or more user computers, user devices, or customer devices  605 . A user computer, user device, or customer device  605  can be a general purpose personal computer (including, merely by way of example, desktop computers, tablet computers, laptop computers, handheld computers, and the like, running any appropriate operating system, several of which are available from vendors such as Apple, Microsoft Corp., and the like), cloud computing devices, a server(s), and/or a workstation computer(s) running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX™ or UNIX-like operating systems. A user computer, user device, or customer device  605  can also have any of a variety of applications, including one or more applications configured to perform methods provided by various embodiments (as described above, for example), as well as one or more office applications, database client and/or server applications, and/or web browser applications. Alternatively, a user computer, user device, or customer device  605  can be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, smart phone, and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network(s)  610  described below) and/or of displaying and navigating web pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system  600  is shown with two user computers, user devices, or customer devices  605 , any number of user computers, user devices, or customer devices can be supported. 
     Certain embodiments operate in a networked environment, which can include a network(s)  610 . The network(s)  610  can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that can support data communications using any of a variety of commercially-available (and/or free or proprietary) protocols, including, without limitation, TCP/IP, SNA™, IPX™, AppleTalk™, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network(s)  610  can each include a local area network (“LAN”), including, without limitation, a fiber network, an Ethernet network, a Token-Ring™ network, and/or the like; a wide-area network (“WAN”); a wireless wide area network (“WWAN”); a virtual network, such as a virtual private network (“VPN”); the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network, including, without limitation, a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth™ protocol known in the art, and/or any other wireless protocol; and/or any combination of these and/or other networks. In a particular embodiment, the network might include an access network of the service provider (e.g., an Internet service provider (“ISP”)). In another embodiment, the network might include a core network of the service provider, and/or the Internet. 
     Embodiments can also include one or more server computers  615 . Each of the server computers  615  may be configured with an operating system, including, without limitation, any of those discussed above, as well as any commercially (or freely) available server operating systems. Each of the servers  615  may also be running one or more applications, which can be configured to provide services to one or more clients  605  and/or other servers  615 . 
     Merely by way of example, one of the servers  615  might be a data server, a web server, a cloud computing device(s), or the like, as described above. The data server might include (or be in communication with) a web server, which can be used, merely by way of example, to process requests for web pages or other electronic documents from user computers  605 . The web server can also run a variety of server applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, and the like. In some embodiments of the invention, the web server may be configured to serve web pages that can be operated within a web browser on one or more of the user computers  605  to perform methods of the invention. 
     The server computers  615 , in some embodiments, might include one or more application servers, which can be configured with one or more applications accessible by a client running on one or more of the client computers  605  and/or other servers  615 . Merely by way of example, the server(s)  615  can be one or more general purpose computers capable of executing programs or scripts in response to the user computers  605  and/or other servers  615 , including, without limitation, web applications (which might, in some cases, be configured to perform methods provided by various embodiments). Merely by way of example, a web application can be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any suitable programming language, such as Java™, C, C#™ or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any programming and/or scripting languages. The application server(s) can also include database servers, including, without limitation, those commercially available from Oracle™, Microsoft™, Sybase™, IBM™, and the like, which can process requests from clients (including, depending on the configuration, dedicated database clients, API clients, web browsers, etc.) running on a user computer, user device, or customer device  605  and/or another server  615 . In some embodiments, an application server can perform one or more of the processes for implementing secure communications for IoT devices, or the like, as described in detail above. Data provided by an application server may be formatted as one or more web pages (comprising HTML, JavaScript, etc., for example) and/or may be forwarded to a user computer  605  via a web server (as described above, for example). Similarly, a web server might receive web page requests and/or input data from a user computer  605  and/or forward the web page requests and/or input data to an application server. In some cases, a web server may be integrated with an application server. 
     In accordance with further embodiments, one or more servers  615  can function as a file server and/or can include one or more of the files (e.g., application code, data files, etc.) necessary to implement various disclosed methods, incorporated by an application running on a user computer  605  and/or another server  615 . Alternatively, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, a file server can include all necessary files, allowing such an application to be invoked remotely by a user computer, user device, or customer device  605  and/or server  615 . 
     It should be noted that the functions described with respect to various servers herein (e.g., application server, database server, web server, file server, etc.) can be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters. 
     In certain embodiments, the system can include one or more databases  620   a - 620   n  (collectively, “databases  620 ”). The location of each of the databases  620  is discretionary: merely by way of example, a database  620   a  might reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) a server  615   a  (and/or a user computer, user device, or customer device  605 ). Alternatively, a database  620   n  can be remote from any or all of the computers  605 ,  615 , so long as it can be in communication (e.g., via the network  610 ) with one or more of these. In a particular set of embodiments, a database  620  can reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. (Likewise, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers  605 ,  615  can be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate.) In one set of embodiments, the database  620  can be a relational database, such as an Oracle database, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands. The database might be controlled and/or maintained by a database server, as described above, for example. 
     According to some embodiments, system  600  might further comprise first through N th  Internet of Things (“IoT”) Endpoints  625   a - 625   n  (collectively, “IoT Endpoints  625 ”), which might correspond to one or more of IoT Endpoints  105 ,  110 ,  205 , and/or  305  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   . System  600  might also comprise broker/gateway  630 , which might correspond to one or more of computing devices  115 ,  210 , and/or  320  or broker/gateway  210  and/or  315  of  FIGS.  1 - 3   , and/or the like. In some cases, user computer, user device, or customer device  605  might correspond to user devices  155  and/or  355  or mobile user devices  160  of  FIGS.  1  and  3   , while servers  615  might correspond to analytics engines  135  and/or  335  or ASP servers  145  and/or  345  of  FIGS.  1  and  3   , and databases  620  might correspond to data lake  130  and/or  330  or databases  140  and  150  of  FIGS.  1  and  3   . 
     The broker/gateway  630  might provide secure communications over IoT protocol between or amongst two or more of the IoT Endpoints  625 , as described in detail above with respect to  FIGS.  1 - 4   . In some embodiments, the servers  615  (particularly, those servers corresponding to analytics engines 135  and/or  335 ) might analyze characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications, for OTR communications) to ensure secure transmission of data or other content. The user devices  605 , in some instances, might receive notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications amongst the IoT Endpoints  625 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the servers  615  and/or the broker/gateway  630 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to the user(s) associated with user devices  605 . The servers  615  (particularly, those servers corresponding to ASP servers  145  and/or  345 ) might receive notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that are associated with the characteristics of the communications (but not the content of the communications), as a result of the secure communications amongst the IoT Endpoints  625 , particularly, those notifications, data, updates, content, and/or the like that might be determined (e.g., by the servers  615  and/or the broker/gateway  630 , and/or the like) to be pertinent to ASPs, as feedback or the like for improving existing apps or software for IoT Endpoints (or for improving communications in general, or the like), for developing new apps or software for IoT Endpoints, for improving and/or developing user interfaces for user devices for interacting with, setting up, and/or selecting preferences associated with each of one or more IoT Endpoints, and/or the like. 
     While certain features and aspects have been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible. For example, the methods and processes described herein may be implemented using hardware components, software components, and/or any combination thereof. Further, while various methods and processes described herein may be described with respect to particular structural and/or functional components for ease of description, methods provided by various embodiments are not limited to any particular structural and/or functional architecture but instead can be implemented on any suitable hardware, firmware and/or software configuration. Similarly, while certain functionality is ascribed to certain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, this functionality can be distributed among various other system components in accordance with the several embodiments. 
     Moreover, while the procedures of the methods and processes described herein are described in a particular order for ease of description, unless the context dictates otherwise, various procedures may be reordered, added, and/or omitted in accordance with various embodiments. Moreover, the procedures described with respect to one method or process may be incorporated within other described methods or processes; likewise, system components described according to a particular structural architecture and/or with respect to one system may be organized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporated within other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments are described with—or without—certain features for ease of description and to illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the various components and/or features described herein with respect to a particular embodiment can be substituted, added and/or subtracted from among other described embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise. Consequently, although several exemplary embodiments are described above, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.