F-Secure Weighs in on Prpl Foundation Security Standards

F-Secure continues to drive safe IoT for consumers, bringing order to chaos in a fragmented connected home world

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Oct 17, 2019, 08:19 ET

HELSINKI, Oct. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- F-Secure has joined the prpl Foundation to provide a more secure consumer experience when customers use their home Wi-Fi network and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The move leverages F-Secure's position as a long-standing and trusted cyber security vendor with a network of 200+ operator partners worldwide.

F-Secure joins at a time when the prpl Foundation is working with operators to harmonize development processes, integration points, and security standards across the hugely fragmented router industry.

Unreliable Wi-Fi coverage issues persist in some parts of people's homes some two decades following the broadband revolution.

"This is because nobody has addressed the need for a common software framework to provide services to be delivered seamlessly on top of different platforms," says F-Secure Principal Consultant, Operator Market, Tom Gaffney. "Too many different vendors in the ecosystems have built proprietary solutions."

He goes on to explain that the lack of a common standard has resulted in the process being fragmented. This is because different drivers and backends are currently needed to make Wi-Fi work with different processes and chips.

"This has led to complex development cycles for service providers and vendors, which also exposes significant security flaws in our increasingly connected world," comments Gaffney.

The prpl Foundation is an open-source, community-driven consortium with a focus on making security and interoperability of embedded devices for the IoT and smart society more robust.

For this, prpl members are developing a support framework called prplWRT. The solution is a mix of tools, open-source development, and guidelines designed to complement OpenWrt - a Linux-based platform used by many router vendors as the basis for their software stacks.

"We are absolutely delighted to welcome F-Secure to our Foundation and look forward to a productive partnership towards a future with a safer home Wi-Fi experience for consumers," says Art Swift, president of the prpl Foundation.

"F-Secure, as a global, leading cyber security provider, is pleased to join the prpl Foundation to share our wide expertise in the creation of a security standards to build a better, more secure connected world," Gaffney concludes.

About F-Secure

Nobody has better visibility into real-life cyber attacks than F-Secure. We're closing the gap between detection and response, utilizing the unmatched threat intelligence of hundreds of our industry's best technical consultants, millions of devices running our award-winning software, and ceaseless innovations in artificial intelligence. Top banks, airlines, and enterprises trust our commitment to beating the world's most potent threats. Together with our network of the top channel partners and over 200 service providers, we're on a mission to make sure everyone has the enterprise-grade cyber security we all need.

Founded in 1988, F-Secure is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

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SOURCE F-Secure