The ioXt Alliance, the global standard for IoT security, has expanded its IoT security certification program to include building network controllers (BNCs). The BNC security certification profile was developed by a profile working group of smart-building industry experts and ioXt team members. The group comprises industry experts from companies such as Acuity Brands, Alerton, CBRE, Delta Controls and Regulvar, representing BNC product manufacturers, ecosystem integrators and protocol security companies.
“Our industry-led workgroups are able to create security profiles for specific device categories because they have the knowledge and expertise in their fields to identify vulnerabilities and create test cases to mitigate them,” said ioXt Alliance Director of Operations Grace Burkard. “The BNC profile best evaluates the security of these smart building devices and enables BNC manufacturers to provide optimal security to their customers.”
The working group defined the scope of the profile, the threat models and a gap analysis with the associated ioXt test case library to create a profile that will mitigate the specific vulnerabilities to building network controllers. The BNC profile used the Network Lighting Controller (NLC) profile as the baseline, however, there are many BNC product attributes that required unique profile features in support of the testing and certification of BNC products.
BNCs play a role in smart-building infrastructure. They provide a centralized, programmable point of automation that can manage, configure, monitor and troubleshoot virtual network infrastructure instead of performing manual configuration of network devices and services. They provide an interface between the business and the network infrastructure.
BNC manufacturers have two options to certify: third-party testing and self-accreditation. If they prefer to work with an authorized lab for third-party testing, they can request a quote here. If they prefer to self-certify, they can fill out the certification wizard in the member portal and upload the proper documentation.
The ioXt technical team will review the information provided and provide feedback before approval. In either case, once approved, the product will receive the ioXt SmartCert label and be visible on the Certified Products page of the ioXt website.
Learn more at ioxtalliance.org.
