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Johnson Controls acquires cybersecurity provider

Johnson Controls recently announced the acquisition of  zero trust cybersecurity provider Tempered Networks, based in Seattle, Wash.

According to a company statement, Tempered Networks has created ‘Airwall’ technology, which is an advanced self-defence system for buildings that enables secure network access across diverse groups of endpoint devices, edge gateways, cloud platforms and service technicians.

Johnson Controls says the acquisition provides the capability to provide zero trust security within the fabric of its OpenBlue secure communications stack, advancing its vision of “enabling fully autonomous buildings that are inherently resilient to cyberattack.”

The default position for the Airwall policy manager is ‘zero trust’, i.e., only allowing connections between continuously authenticated and authorized entities. Once a communicating device authenticates itself correctly, an encrypted tunnel is created through which data flows.

“When it comes to buildings, we must create easily implementable cybersecurity defences as we’re often dealing with critical infrastructure, including assets such as data centres and hospitals,” said Vijay Sankaran, vice-president and chief technology officer, Johnson Controls. “Tempered Networks’ Airwall approach is purpose-built for our sector as it’s designed around principles of zero trust, securing device communications as data moves between devices and the cloud — so enabling remote building optimization in the most trusted way possible.”

“Digital transformation is the primary way we’ll make the world’s buildings more autonomous and resilient,” added Bryan Skene, chief technology officer, Tempered Networks. “Being acquired by Johnson Controls allows us to fully integrate our Airwall technology into their software stack, providing an advanced security platform for a range of edge to cloud applications. Our ambition, now that we’re part of Johnson Controls, is that building systems everywhere can be managed from anywhere and remain secure from cyber threats.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.