WISeKey to establish IoT Blockchain Center of Excellence in New York in Q3 2017 to serve the United States Market

Main Objective: provide a secure IoT model for performing common tasks such as sensing, processing, storing information, and communicating

Geneva, Switzerland – February 9, 2017 – WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WIHN.SW), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company announced today its intention to establish an IoT Blockchain Centre of Excellence (‘Center’) in the United States aiming to deploy a Trusted Blockchain as a Service platform.  The WISeKey U.S. Centre will be located in New York and it will be operational in Q3 2017.  The Center will offer a Blockchain Platform to US based enterprises, facilitating the rapid adaptation of on-board Blockchain based solutions and services.

In 2016, WISeKey announced several strategic partnerships with global enterprises including SAP, MasterCard, Microsoft and Centurylink and is working with experts in industry, government, and academia to address the most relevant Blockchain developments with practical, standards-based solutions using available Blockchain technologies. In that regard, the New York based Center will conduct research, rapid pilot prototyping, co-creation of use cases and IP creation on Blockchain technology and platforms.

Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s CEO, noted, “The urgent need to secure IoT in the U.S. and globally, became more imminent following the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in October 2016, which was the largest of its kind in history. This massive assault on the US and European internet structure, affected millions of internet addresses and temporarily crippled the servers of popular services such as Twitter, Netflix, and PayPal.  Additionally, what made this attack more dangerous was the primary source of the malicious traffic attack, was a malware called Mirai botnet, a simple malware program readily available online. While experts agree that IoT remains unsecure, this attack should serve as a wake-up call to quickly improve security.  Thus far, a lot has been done to improve corporations’ ability to improve response once attacked, but there has been no real strategy to find a solution to prevent such attacks in the first place.  WISeKey’s technology provides just that. a much needed solution to secure IoT and user identities and minimize risks.”

At the Center, WISeKey will be cooperating with U.S. based participating companies, on building points of view, proof of concepts, policies, educational materials including addressing all the distributed ledger capabilities across different Blockchain schemes (public, consortium and private), with industry verticalization and domain specialization (IoT, transactions, messaging, etc.), underpinned by the best underlying technologies from startups, our key partners and from the community. For more information visit https://www.wisekey.com/iot/.

WISeKey will be localizing in the U.S. its IoT BlockChain which is constantly growing as new blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. Each WISeID node gets a copy of the WISeID Blockchain and gets downloaded automatically upon joining the WISeID network. Through the WISeID Blockchain app users are always in control of their digital identity stored on their mobile, IoT sensor and or computer and it is only the user who determines which identification attributes are shared with social media, credit cards, merchant sites etc., never disclosing the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) if not required or necessary. WISeID uses Blockchain as a public, immutable ledger that allows third parties to validate that the original Identity or Attribute certifications provided by a Third Trusted Party has not been changed or misrepresented. Keeping control of Digital Identity is key to protecting user’s personal data. WISeID technology is also provided as a software development kit (SDK) to third parties wanting to use this method of identification for their identities requirements.

At the heart of this platform is the OISTE-WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust which has been actively used since 1999 by over 2.6 billion desktops, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and Internet of Things’ devices. The OISTE WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust is ubiquitous and universal, and a pioneer in the creation of Digital Identities.

About WISeKey

WISeKey (SIX:WIHN) is a leading global digital security and CyberSecurity company. Working at the forefront of information cybersecurity, identity management, and mobile security, WISeKey’s mission is to facilitate the global growth of secure electronic transactions by providing individuals, businesses, cities, citizens, objects, and governments with advanced technology and services that authenticate and protect digital identity across the full spectrum of personal, business and administrative transactions online. At the heart of this 4th Industrial Revolution strategy is the OISTE-WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust which has been actively used since 1999 by over 2.6 billion desktops, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and Internet of Things’ devices. The OISTE WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust is ubiquitous and universal, and a pioneer in the identification of objects. More articles can be found at https://www.wisekey.com/.

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