SEALSQ Corp, which focuses on the development and sale of hardware and software products for semiconductors, PKI, and post-quantum technologies, announces it has joined the ECHONET Consortium, a leading international standardization body for smart home and energy management systems. The ECHONET Consortium plans to significantly enhance its ECHONET Lite security framework with public key infrastructure (PKI) technology, and SEALSQ aims to contribute to enhancing the identity, authentication, and reliability of ECHONET Lite devices by providing its INeS (Identity Network Security) PKI platform services to Consortium members.
As smart homes, energy systems, and connected devices continue to scale rapidly, the need for robust, interoperable, and future-proof security mechanisms has become critical. By integrating PKI in its architecture, the ECHONET Consortium aims to ensure secure communications and scalable trust management for newly introduced devices. SEALSQ aims to contribute to this initiative by providing its INeS PKI platform, designed specifically for large-scale IoT and embedded environments. INeS enables secure device onboarding, certificate lifecycle management, authentication, and cryptographic trust.
“Security will become a foundational requirement for the long-term success of smart energy and home automation systems,” said a spokesperson from the ECHONET Consortium. “By reinforcing our specifications with PKI-based device identity, we are enabling ECHONET members to deploy solutions that are secure by design, scalable, and resilient against evolving cyber threats.”
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The market opportunity of this strategic activity is substantial. According to Grand View Research (2024), the global smart home market — of which ECHONET Lite ecosystem represents a significant segment — is projected to grow from $127.8 billion in 2024 to $537.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 27.0%, with security and access control constituting its largest product category. The global IoT security market, of which PKI-based device authentication is a foundational pillar, is separately forecast to reach $141.8 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 26.8% (Grand View Research, 2024), driven in part by mandatory security-by-design regulation including Japan’s JC-STAR cybersecurity framework and the EU Cyber Resilience Act. These figures positions SEALSQ–at the intersection of two high-growth sectors, offering a compelling commercial opportunity for standards-compliant PKI services across millions of connected home and energy devices worldwide.
SEALSQ’s efforts to contribute to the ECHONET Consortium should further strengthen SEALSQ’s established position in the smart home and smart energy IoT fields. SEALSQ already actively supports the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) for Matter smart home products, serving as an approved Product Attestation Authority (PAA) that provides Device Attestation Certificates (DACs) and Product Attestation Intermediates (PAIs) to enable seamless interoperability, secure onboarding, and compliance for Matter-certified devices worldwide.
Additionally, SEALSQ is a member of the Wi-SUN Alliance, delivering certified PKI services and digital certificates for Wi-SUN-based smart grid, smart city, and utility applications. Complementing these consortium engagements, SEALSQ brings a proven heritage in PKI for energy-sector deployments: through WISeKey’s root certificate authority infrastructure, SEALSQ has supported smart metering and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) programs requiring secure device authentication and national regulatory compliance — requirements that closely mirror those of the ECHONET ecosystem. Together, these engagements position SEALSQ as a trusted leader in scalable, post-quantum-ready PKI solutions across the major global standards for connected homes, energy management, and IoT ecosystems.
“ECHONET plays a pivotal role in defining the future of smart home and energy interoperability,” said Gweltas Radenac, IoT Security Director SEALSQ. “We are proud to support ECHONET members with the INeS PKI platform, delivering secure and trusted device identities that protect ecosystems today and prepare them for tomorrow’s threats, including post-quantum risks.”
In parallel, the security enhancement aligns with the ECHONET Lite protocol, widely adopted in Japan for smart home and energy management applications and referenced within the JC-STAR cybersecurity framework in Japan. By reinforcing ECHONET Lite implementations with PKI, the Consortium supports stronger compliance with Japan’s evolving cybersecurity requirements, enabling trusted interoperability among certified devices while improving resilience against impersonation, unauthorized access, and large-scale IoT attacks.
SOURCE: GlobeNewswire
