In an increasingly interconnected world, the Newport Beach-based industry group known as the ioXt Alliance is trying to set the global security standard for products that consumers buy and use every day.
Brad Ree, the group’s chief technology officer, said ioXt is trying to “define in a harmonized way what baseline security should look like” for the Internet of Things, the growing field of technology which connects everyday objects ranging from smart light bulbs to connected cars.
IoXt says it’s bringing together wireless carriers, leading consumer product manufacturers, standards groups, compliance labs and government regulators as part of the project.
Ree met with various alliance member representatives at the CES technology show in Las Vegas earlier this month, including thermostat maker Resideo, light switch maker Legrand and technology company Silicon Labs, as well as with retailers’ representatives.
Suppliers can build “a unified set of features” on the security side, Ree said. That in turn reduces the engineering overhead, while the whole system is backed up by third-party test labs for compliance certification.
Founder Jabara
Gary Jabara, chairman of Newport Beach wireless infrastructure firm Mobilitie, founded the ioXt Alliance, to help protect against hackers and data breaches as IoT functions and security threats grow.
“Some of the founding members are funding this,” Ree told the Business Journal. “The real goal is once we launch the certification this year, we would then be paying for things out of certification fees.”
Increased connectivity raises “legitimate questions and concerns about IoT device security and the vulnerability risks posed by poorly designed or extremely outdated connected products.”
“So, now we have created this circle where retailers are putting secure products on the shelf, as defined by what the group has worked together, manufacturers are building to it and third-party testers are validating it,” he said. “So that then ultimately rolls into a certification that a consumer could recognize.”
Challenges Remain
Still, it may be difficult to get manufacturers to adhere to specifications with new products coming out every day, while coordination with foreign regulators and manufacturers remains a challenge.
The alliance is based around an eight-point security pledge including no universal passwords, upgradeability and transparency to keep consumers informed, and protect privacy.
Antitrust Avoided
Ree said the nonprofit alliance is careful not to discuss prices or head into antitrust collusion among manufacturers.
The ioXt Alliance includes about 120 member companies now; with a board that includes execs from Google, Amazon, Comcast, T-Mobile and other major corporations. Mobilltie remains an alliance member.
The group’s connectivity concerns include a broad array of products, including home security systems, doorbell cameras, baby-monitoring cameras, and smart TVs.
“We’re focused more on the consumer side, so maybe the wearables, home assistants, voice assistants,” Ree said of other affected products.
He takes the example of high-tech television sets: “If hackers can come on in to that, they can send out a lot of different data from your TV or use it as a jumping point to go into other devices around your house. It’s on your network, so the TV could even go after your computers and things like that.”
“Because there’s no user interface, you don’t even know what’s going on,” he said.
A separate company—called simply ioXt—builds products and handles services to support the alliance’s mission.
Jabara owns that company, which is also based in Newport Beach and made up of about 50 to 60 employees, according to Ree.
