“We’re working with the Chinese manufacturers. A lot of these manufacturers are looking at entering Western markets,” said Brad Ree, the alliance’s chief technology officer. The alliance is “helping those manufacturers navigate the regulatory waters of North America and Europe.”
The ioXt Alliance, founded three years ago by wireless infrastructure firm Mobilitie chairman Gary Jabara, is backed by several large tech companies. It is intended to handle the rapidly increasing demand for Internet of Things device certification that meets security requirements across every product category.
Major technology companies and manufacturers including Google, T-Mobile, Silicon Labs and others have certified a wide range of devices through the alliance’s program. Those devices cover smart home, smart buildings, cellular Internet of Things and mobile devices.
The ioXt certification gives consumers confidence that smart home devices won’t spy on their owners or families, among other issues, as its members work with government regulators and key players in the industry. The nonprofit alliance is funded through the certifications themselves.
Asia Summit
The alliance will hold its inaugural ioXt Asia Summit next month, with sign-up invitations in Chinese and English on its website.
The online meeting on June 22 in the U.S. and June 23 in China will give participants the opportunity to “learn about cybersecurity in the smart home and the latest trends in 5G and mobile technology.”
Speakers will come from leading technology manufacturers who deploy connected products on a global scale.
The China chapter will focus on “driving adoption and education along with public policy into that market’’ and will probably be in Shenzhen, known for its high-tech industry, Ree said.
“We’re going to be opening that up in about two months now,” Ree told the Business Journal on May 4.
The organization has around 60 employees in the U.S. and Europe and is expanding its standards coverage, according to Ree.
Mobile, VPN
Last month, ioXt Alliance said it had expanded its certification program for mobile and VPN (virtual private network) security. The expansion brings transparency to mobile applications and virtual private networks.
“This really helps cover more around the products that consumers care about and live with,” according to Ree, adding that the group is working on a privacy component for wearables.
“There really is this concern about what security comes with all of these products, how consumers can have the transparency to know what it is that they’re loading on their phones and using in their homes.”
“Now we’re even looking at the applications that are running in your pocket,” says Ree, who runs the alliance along with ioXt Chief Operating Officer Dana Tardelli.
Ree said that “until ioXt came along there was no actual mobile app certification.”
“Companies were left on their own to find their own way to make sure that the security of these apps were good enough.”
“We’re now at 350 members; we’ve got well over 70-plus devices certified.”
Alliance founder Jabara is “very upbeat about the growth, the amount of certified products,” as well as the breadth of products certified, according to Ree.
Among other news, the alliance announced on April 5 that Midea, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of international household appliances, has certified seven appliances through the ioXt Certification Program.
