IoT news of the week for August 4, 2023

It looks like a Chinese hacking group is attacking air-gapped networks: Kaspersky has documented a sophisticated attack created by a hacking group associated with China. The attack uses several stages to get malware onto air-gapped devices, infiltrate other devices on the network, and then copy and exfiltrate files. (Bleeping Computer)

This is why we need cybersecurity rules for IoT devices: Just a few weeks after the White House launched a new plan for a cybersecurity label and certification program for IoT devices comes word of Canon printers apparently storing SSIDs and Wi-Fi passwords on their printers in a manner that means they can’t be erased by doing a hard reset of the device. This is maddening. With connected devices, if you reset it, you should delete all the data off of it, especially sensitive data such as the Wi-Fi network name and credentials. Also, why is such sensitive data even stored in plain text? (Ars Technica)

Wyze has a new battery-powered camera: The Wyze hardware machine is cranking out a new battery-powered camera that can operate indoors or outdoors. The device records in 2K HDR, has an integrated siren and spotlight, and has both radar and PIR motion detection. Those are solid features for a camera that costs $93.99. Buying the camera with an extra battery pack will cost $114.98. There are other accessories such as the battery charger, a mount, and a solar panel, but Wyze also says that it will soon allow the camera to record locally to an SD card, which means that customers can buy this device and bypass the Wyze subscription. (Wyze)

Senet is providing a LoRa platform for smart building management: Senet, which makes a platform as a service for managing LoRaWAN devices, has signed a deal to provide a management platform for ProSentry’s LoRaWAN devices. ProSentry sells LoRa sensors to building owners for monitoring everything from leaks to mouse traps. (Senet)

Wiliot adds food safety expert as a strategic advisor: Wiliot, the company building out energy-harvesting smart tags for everything from asset tracking to electronic shelf labels, has added Frank Yiannas, the former deputy commissioner of food policy & response at the Food & Drug Administration, as a strategic advisor. This is a nice addition, especially because food safety is a great use case for Wiliot’s technology, and because having actual experience in the industry will be incredibly relevant to the development of the overall solution Wiliot will offer. (Wiliot)

Apparently Google does plan to eventually support its Nest smoke detectors in the Home app: After the launch of the Nest thermostat came the Nest Protect, a connected smoke alarm that cost a pretty penny but had folks absolutely loving the product. Almost a decade after Google purchased Nest, however, it still doesn’t support the Nest Protect in its Home app. Apparently, it still plans to. One day. (9to5 Google)

Industries rejoice; 5G RedCap is coming: Back in June 2022, the 3GPPP standards organization approved Release 17 of the 5G cellular radio standard. That release included tech specs for 5G reduced capacity or (RedCap), formerly known as NR-Light. Despite all the names, the importance of RedCap for industrial networks cannot be overstated. Instead of the beefy capacity of traditional 5G, RedCap focuses on sending less data, and doing so more quickly and at lower power. The standard also includes location data and other features that made industrial companies take notice. This week, VIAVI launched the first 5G RedCap emulator for companies trying to model their future networks filled with thousands of RedCap devices, marking one of the final steps to making deployments a reality. (VIAVI)

Arm’s planned IPO will be big and will happen in September: Bloomberg and other news sites are reporting that chipmaker Arm’s IPO will happen in September and will aim to raise $10 billion at a valuation of between $60 billion and $70 billion. To offer some context, Intel’s current market cap is $145.5 billion. (Bloomberg)

GE’s Cync brand releases hexagon panels announced at CES: It’s not vaporware! The hexagon light panels that GE Cync (now owned by Savant) showed off at CES are now available for $189.99 for a 10-pack, $149.99 for a 7-pack, and $89.99 for a 5-panel expansion pack. These lights will compete with Nanoleaf’s various shapes and Govee’s budget hexagon panels. (Cync)