Run by former Apple exec, uses blockchain protection Xage Security (pronounced “Zage”) launched yesterday, calling itself the first and only blockchain-protected security platform for the industrial IOT (IIOT), and touting existing customer partners including ABB, Dell, and Itron. Led by a team of security, industrial digitization, and software experts, the firm has been operating behind the scenes as for 18 months, perfecting its technology and securing customers and partners, it said.
Former Apple executive and Topsy CEO Duncan Greatwood joined the firm as CEO, it added. The work with ABB Wireless includes power and automation projects requiring distributed security. The work with Dell is to deliver the Xage security services on Dell IOT gateways and the EdgeX platform for the energy-production industry. With Itron, it is working to enable intelligent power-optimization applications by creating trust and controlling access between smart meters and power distribution infrastructure, the firm said.
“Industry 4.0 is the story of our time and the industrial internet of things is the heart of this new era,” said Greatwood in prepared remarks. “Security is the foundation for IIOT, and today’s enterprise-IT security models of building walls and patching holes simply don’t work for these vast, dynamic networks.
“We’ve created the first solution to provide the necessary trust and integrity for secure distributed interactions at scale.” Xage creates the essential, trusted foundation for secure cooperation and data exchange between machines, people, and applications, the firm said. It distributes authentication and private data across the network of devices, creating a tamper-proof “fabric” for communication, authentication, and trust that assures security at scale, it added.
It supports any-to-any communication, secures user-based and machine-to-machine access to existing industrial systems, works at the edge even with irregular connectivity, and gets stronger with every device added to the network, the firm said. Xage is working with customers and partners across the utility, transportation, manufacturing and energy industries, with projects spanning distributed command and control, automated device deployment, and authenticated remote data access, it added.
“Distributed intelligence at the edge is a core component of Itron’s active grid vision for utilities and smart cities,” said Itron VP of Network Solutions Ty Roberts in prepared remarks. “Xage’s decentralized security architecture aligns with our vision by adaptively creating trust and controlling access between data, applications, devices, and users.”
