Smart buildings specialist Johnson Controls selected Tempered Networks to provide secure communications and network management for its OpenBlue services.
The firm said that the new agreement will enable it to further enhance cybersecurity offerings for the company’s smart buildings technology ecosystem.
The agreement allows Johnson Controls to deploy Tempered Airwall as a core component of OpenBlue service offerings to protect building automation customers worldwide. OpenBlue serves many different industries including commercial and civic workplaces, hospitals, schools, campuses, and stadiums.
“The acceleration of digital transformation means our customers are realizing the benefits of operating smart buildings that are increasingly data-enabled and require the strongest levels of cybersecurity”, said Vijay Sankaran, vice president and CTO at Johnson Controls. “By leveraging security technology from Tempered Networks, we enable smart buildings with industry-leading secure remote access technology and AI-driven security insights to help OpenBlue customers manage risk and simplify network management, allowing them to deliver a great occupant experience.”
“We are enabling Johnson Controls technicians to securely access and manage equipment at a customer site from anywhere using zero trust software defined networking and military-grade encryption, rendering building systems invisible to unauthorized users and potential attacks,” said Jason Christman, vice president and chief product security officer at Johnson Controls.
Johnson Controls noted that the new OpenBlue services that leverage the Tempered Airwall platform will be available globally.
“Critical infrastructure is being hacked daily because digital transformation has made it vulnerable. The network solutions that worked in the past, like adding yet another firewall, are no longer effective”, said Keith Beeman, CEO of Tempered Networks. “With Airwall’s native zero trust platform, building automation systems can now be safely and optimally managed from anywhere.”
Earlier this year, Johnson Controls had partnered with DigiCert, a provider of digital certificate services and PKI solutions, to provide customers with advanced connectivity for smart building technology.
The partnership enables the Johnson Controls OpenBlue digital solutions suite to utilize DigiCert’s ONE PKI platform.
The two firms said that the Johnson Controls-DigiCert PKI solution elevates operations within the Operational Technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) space to ensure that hardware, software and communication remains trusted throughout the lifecycle of the smart building. This approach brings modern PKI security as well as advanced expertise in managing digital certificates to provide device authentication and identity, data encryption and integrity for each component of the ecosystem, the partners said.
Johnson Controls also recently announced its partnership with Pelion, to accelerate innovation in connectivity, security and intelligence at the edge for Johnson Controls OpenBlue technology. Pelion’s device and edge management capabilities will be used with DigiCert services to ensure digital identities maintain a high level of trust in OpenBlue solutions.
