LXI appoints GlobalSign as an approved security vendor
GMO GlobalSign, a global Certificate Authority (CA) and leading provider of identity and security solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced its appointment by LXI (LAN eXtensions for Instruments) Consortium as an approved security vendor.
LXI Consortium is an open, accessible standard based upon the Ethernet that identifies specifications and solutions related to the functional test, measurement and data acquisition industries. LXI is the standard for LAN equipped instrumentation that helps reduce the time it takes to set up, configure and debug test systems.
LXI members – more than 45 global firms – manufacture highly precise testing and measurement instrumentation that connects to industrial networks and Internet cloud providers.
The security of those devices and communications is an ongoing priority for LXI systems, which relies on the expertise of GlobalSign to develop security protocols based on the confidentiality of data under transport, the integrity of that data, and authenticity of the data sender and recipient, using strong, unique device identity.
“As a standards organization, selecting the right security solution was critical in maintaining our ongoing reputation of excellence and reliability,” said Steve Schink, President of the LXI Consortium.
“GlobalSign worked closely with our security working group to identify our challenges, propose solutions, then implement our vision in a way that works for, and protects, our membership and customers.”
GlobalSign safeguards the certified equipment and equipment webservers of LXI members, from the manufacturing floor through end-customer deployment. This is accomplished through a device identity provisioning and management system, built on the GlobalSign IoT Identity Platform in partnership with security framework provider beame.io’s authentication services.
LXI members use in-house and/or third-party manufacturing to produce their instrumentation equipment. Unique initial device identities (IDevIDs) for each piece of instrumentation manufactured now allows LXI members to authenticate each unit and deny unvalidated devices with precise accountability.
Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) revocation services allow LXI to invalidate specific devices in the event of lost or stolen equipment.
About the IoT Identity Platform
GlobalSign’s next-generation IoT Identity Platform delivers exceptional device identity security. It is flexible and scalable enough to issue and manage billions of identities for IoT devices of all types and integrates simply with developer friendly, RESTful APIs.
Using PKI as the core identity mechanism, the IoT Identify Platform can serve the varied security use-cases of the IoT across all verticals, including manufacturing, agriculture, smart grid, payments, IoT gateways, healthcare, other industrial ecosystems and more.
The Platform supports the full device identity lifecycle, from initial certificate provisioning (both greenfield birth certificates during manufacturing and local, brownfield identity deployments) to certificate lifecycle management and final sunsetting, including decommissioning or transfer of ownership.
Giving each device or endpoint a unique identity allows them to get authenticated when they come online and then throughout their lifetime, prove their integrity, and securely communicate with other devices, services, and users.
“Collaborating with LXI Consortium and their Security Working Group to define their security protocol and protect the LAN communication integrity of their members’ products has been rewarding,” said Nisarg Desai, Director of Product Management, IoT, GlobalSign.
“The members recognize the value of security for sensitive industrial IoT settings, and by developing this security protocol, they safeguard their global membership from countless potential breaches. They are a shining example that the concept of security-by-design truly works.”