ioXt Intelligence: A Q&A with Michael Beine, Business Unit Manager - Cyber Security at Bureau Veritas Group

By: Grace Burkard, director of operations at ioXt Alliance

ioXt Alliance is fortunate to collaborate with forward-thinking leaders and innovative influencers across the IoT industry. As often as possible, we sit down with one of these execs to talk about the future of cybersecurity and other topics that matter most to the Alliance for our new Q&A blog series, ioXt Intelligence.

In this edition, we’re featuring Michael Beine, Business Unit Manager - Cyber Security, at Bureau Veritas. Bureau Veritas is a member of the ioXt Authorized Labs and an international testing, certifying and consulting service provider, specializing in wireless technologies.

1. Can you tell us more about Bureau Veritas? What services do you provide?

Bureau Veritas Consumer Product Services is one of the  world’s-leading concept-to-consumer supply chain solutions partner. We are proud to be the quality managers for many of the world’s leading brands, retailers and their supply chains. With a presence in every major sourcing and selling territory around the world, our testing, inspection, certification, and advisory solutions help companies making, distributing, or selling consumer and technology products improve many business aspects.

• Bureau Veritas’ cybersecurity offerings cover consumer products across the following IoT devices:

• IoT Consumer devices: Connected consumer IoT Devices e.g., mobile phones, cameras etc;

• Medical devices: Including pacemakers, home medical devices, consumer medical devices, etc;

• Industrial applications: Connected devices used in industrial plants and applications;

• New Mobility – Both OEM and Infrastructural:

  • In-car features, such as entertainment systems, vehicle management systems, and wireless connectivity.

  • Infrastructural, such as charging stations for electric vehicles.

2. Why did you collaborate with ioXt Alliance?  

ioXt has given us the opportunity to meet with important partners with strong cybersecurity competence. The exchange with peers in the industry is very beneficial for us and for the cybersecurity ecosystem.

We are also proud to be authorized by ioXt, and a member of the ioXt Authorization Labs program, which has enabled us to offer our cybersecurity services to help manufacturers certify their products. ioXt Authorized Labs are the exclusive test providers for the ioXt Alliance and are contributing members to the Alliance, providing input on ioXt standards.

3. What type of impact do you see Bureau Veritas making in the realm of cybersecurity in the future?

The ever-growing ubiquity of connected devices brings with it concurrent growth in the importance of cybersecurity in protecting people’s digital personas, personal data, and businesses. As an independent cyber security specialist in the testing, inspection, and certifications services (TIC) industry, Bureau Veritas will continue to build the necessary consumer trust in the security of products, solutions, and services in order to meet these challenges. As cyberattacks become more prevalent globally, as will regulation in the field, resulting in heightened demand for cybersecurity services from both businesses and consumers. Bureau Veritas’ offering is positioned to meet this demand.

Bureau Veritas is committed to work with manufacturers to create safer devices and cooperate with industry bodies such as ioXt to reach these goals, in turn, helping consumers protect their privacy and personal information.

4.     What’s the most important development happening in the IoT cybersecurity industry?

Firstly, increasing regulation in place to protect consumers and their data from Cyberattack. Regulatory bodies understand the growing importance of cybersecurity and have begun to take action in mandating cybersecurity for connected consumer devices to protect their markets, and people against increasing cyber threats, and it’s important for businesses to find the right partner to support them to meet these new requirements.

Secondly, connected capabilities are being integrated into more consumer devices across a range of categories – resulting in new segments requiring cybersecurity, further regulation required to protect consumers, and ultimately, a higher demand for support in the field – demand Bureau Veritas is poised to service.