Trends in Smart Home Security and Leaping Ahead in the IoT Category at TNW, Amsterdam

Presciense was invited to attend TNW last week in Amsterdam. There were over 1500 start-ups who applied, 150 of which presented to a panel of judges. Our category had 14 Internet of Things (IoT) start-ups and we won, so presented in the main show. The Internet of Things is a growing area. It is still in the early adopter phase, but those companies – such as utility providers and telco operators - that choose to sell these solutions to their clients will be the ones who are leading-edge in their fields. Presciense provides a platform, which enables utility companies and telco providers’ customers to view all their smart home devices from one place – through their smart phone, laptop or In-Home Display.

One of the trends we saw at the event, was a lot of discussion over security – in terms of the security of the platform. It is an area that many start-ups are in danger of neglecting, as it is complicated, time consuming and costly to address. We were pleased to contribute to the discussion, that security is a top priority. Our security model is at the heart of our technology, giving total control over end point security. It is a valid concern for both the companies buying from us, as well as their customers, who want to have a secure home. And if companies, such as ourselves don’t factor security into the smart home platform from the beginning, it is something difficult to address later.

An interesting article in Entrepreneur discusses the importance of building in security from the beginning of an IoT company’s life. The editor comments, “In the middle of 2014, HP published research that basically suggested that most IoT device manufacturers were foregoing any meaningful security and instead solving for time to market and convenience. In the report, they looked at the top 10 devices deployed in consumers' homes and found that they had on average 25 vulnerabilities each.” So if you are looking into this area for your company, I am sure you are already on it, but make sure to challenge the companies selling to you in this area.

The conference was all positive and a great experience to see the companies of tomorrow, at TNW. Find out more and watch the video of the presentation at TNW.