Securing Confidence for IoT Developers: TAC Security Approved as an Authorized Lab by the ioXt Alliance

Happy New Year’s Eve Eve, readers. We’ve nearly rounded the end-of-year bend; it’ll be 2025 in a blink, I swear.

Before the ball drop, let’s talk about news regarding the ioXt Alliance.

But first, some context.

The ioXt Alliance mission-at-hand is quite clear: Build great confidence in IoT products through standardized security and privacy requirements, product compliance programs, and public transparency therein. Through the harmonization of multi-stakeholder, national and international connections, ioXt organizations collaborate to set impactful standards that bring security, upgradeability and transparency to the IoT market; to businesses, and directly into the hands of consumers. (And big names that have already come together via ioXt include Amazon, Lenovo, TikTok, Roku, T-Mobile, Motorola, Meta, Legrand, TCL, Honeywell, Wiliot, Schneider Electric, Nord Security, Exprivia, McAfee, SonicWall, etc. Browse ioXt’s full list here.)

Additionally, ioXt members stand by the tenets of the official ioXt Security Pledge. This entails how a.) IoT products and product interfaces shall not have a universal password and must be secured with appropriate security credentials, b.) strong, proven and updatable cryptography using open, peer-reviewed methods and/or algorithms is required, c.) IoT manufacturers shall apply and/or automate timely security updates backed by a trans[parent vulnerability reporting program, and more.

This segues well into the news — the ioXt Alliance has officially announced the approval of TAC Security as an authorized lab within the ioXt Certification Program.

According to the ioXt Alliance, this is a significant milestone that “empowers TAC Security to conduct advanced security testing and risk assessments for IoT devices, adherence to the highest global standards of security, transparency, and upgradability.”

With this authorization, the esteemed cyber risk and vulnerability management team at TAC Security joins eight other ioXt-authorized labs, making it a key player in ioXt’s ongoing mission. (And this has already made waves, financially speaking; TAC Security’s shares hit a 5% upper circuit following the announcement, and experts believe this surge reflects growing market confidence in TAC Security’s leadership and overall role in securing the rapidly expanding IoT ecosystem.)

In that vein, Grace Burkard, Director of Operations of the ioXt Alliance, provided commentary.

“We are thrilled to welcome TAC Security as an ioXt authorized lab,” Burkard said. “Their expertise in vulnerability management and robust infrastructure positions them to help IoT manufacturers and enterprises meet critical security benchmarks. This partnership further strengthens our collective efforts to ensure secure and trustworthy connected devices worldwide.”