Tuya Smart, a global IoT developer service provider, successfully held the “Tuya Developer Day” event at CES 2024, which featured engaging discussions on the innovation and implementation of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and IoT with renowned institutions and enterprises in the fields of connection protocols, semiconductors, and cloud services. The event also explored ways to build a safer and more sustainable interconnected world.

Building on the main theme of CES 2024, “All Together, All On”, Tuya remains committed to fostering collaborative innovation. The establishment of the theme “All Together, All On Smart” resonates with Tuya’s unwavering dedication to creating a connected and intelligent world. Through an immersive showroom and by hosting “Tuya Developer Day”, the company not only showcases its technological prowess but also exemplifies its confidence in collaborating with global developers. This collaborative spirit aims to collectively discern industry trends and unlock future development opportunities. This vision seamlessly aligns with the perspective embedded in Tuya’s Four Signature Colors, particularly the vibrant Aurora Pink, symbolizing a harmonious and forward-looking approach to smart technology.

The event featured leading brands and associations from around the world, including AWS, Bluetooth SIG, Connectivity Standards Alliance, ioXt, Silicon Labs, Thread Group and Wi-Fi Alliance. Representatives shared valuable insights into the rapid development of connectivity protocols and security compliance environment for the IoT industry.

Innovation in Connected Home Services
Panel No. 1: What’s New on Wireless Connectivity

Ross Luo, General Manager of Tuya Smart’s Asia Pacific Region, led the first panel discussion on “What’s New on Wireless Connectivity.” Speakers discussed the innovation and iteration of wireless connectivity technology, providing fresh insights into using IoT technology to revitalize the smart home market.

Kevin Robinson, CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, shared insights into the latest Wi-Fi 7 technology stating “Advanced Wi-Fi 7 capabilities fast track the future of connectivity in home and industrial environments, and the latest Wi-Fi offers a strong foundation on which our members can innovate. One of the most requested new Wi-Fi 7 features includes multi-link operation (MLO), allowing devices to transmit and receive data simultaneously over multiple links for increased throughput, reduced latency, and improved reliability. Wi-Fi Alliance introduced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ this week, facilitating worldwide product interoperability and a robust ecosystem of devices.”

“This last year, in our 25th anniversary, the Bluetooth SIG reached over 40,000 member companies who shipped over 5 billion Bluetooth enabled products in 2023 alone,” said Ken Kolderup, CMO of the Bluetooth SIG. “Enabling technology companies like Tuya play a vital role within the Bluetooth eco-system and are a key reason for the tremendous success of Bluetooth technology.”

Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of Connectivity Standards Alliance, discussed the role of Matter in enhancing IoT interoperability. “Matter strives to improve the interoperability of the Internet of Things (IoT), offering manufacturers valuable advantages as an open standard and empowering end-users with a broader array of alternatives. The active involvement of Alliance Members and the Board, including key players like Tuya, is pivotal in seamlessly incorporating Matter into product solutions. Through collaborative efforts, Matter is poised to introduce continuous updates and releases, evolving into a more comprehensive and unified standard for smart homes.”

Kevin Kraus, Treasurer of Thread Group, highlighted the characteristics and recent development of Thread technology. “As a leading IoT communication protocol, Thread is undergoing rapid development and innovative breakthroughs. With the release of the latest 1.3.0 version, widely acknowledged in the industry for its technological advantages such as safety, reliability, no single point of failure, simple connection, and low energy consumption, Thread Group solidifies its position at the forefront of IoT advancements. In the future, we will continue to strengthen collaboration with partners like Tuya to break industry barriers within the smart home landscape, providing users with a seamless and all-encompassing smart life experience across various scenes.”

U-tec is headed to CES and will launch the next generation of its award-winning flagship ULTRALOQ Bolt series, the ULTRALOQ Bolt Fingerprint Matter Edition, the World’s First Fingerprint Smart Deadbolt with Matter Over Thread.

The company is headed to CES exhibiting at the Venetian Expo, booth 52623 and at ShowStoppers, January 9 in Las Vegas.

Bolt Fingerprint Matter is an advanced smart lock offering a six-in-one unlocking experience and multi-layered security. The device seamlessly integrates with Matter connectivity, creating a unified smart home ecosystem. With advanced fingerprint recognition and mobile control, it allows effortless and secure access management.

Regardless of whether your smart home is powered by Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Apple Home, or Amazon Alexa, this gives users peace of mind with a smart home interconnected by Matter.

Three key features of ULTRALOQ Bolt Fingerprint Matter include:

Cutting-Edge Support for Matter over Thread

ULTRALOQ Bolt Fingerprint Matter uniquely supports Matter over Thread technology, ensuring seamless integration with various smart home devices for a future-proof experience.

Six-in-One Unlocking Methods for Keyless Experience

Offering multiple unlocking methods such as fingerprint recognition, passcodes, mobile app access, and backup keys, the smart lock ensures unparalleled security with flexibility.

Extended Battery Life of up to one year

Designed to support 8 alkaline cells, the smart lock provides extended battery life and minimizes battery replacements, catering to today’s dynamic and connected lifestyles.

An international team of researchers, led by IMDEA Networks and Northeastern University in collaboration with NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, IMDEA Software, University of Calgary, and the International Computer Science Institute, has posted some of the challenges that have to do smart home devices.

The research has unveiled latest findings on the security and privacy challenges posed by the ever-growing prevalence of opaque and technically complex Internet of Things (IoT) devices in smart homes.

For now, smart homes are becoming increasingly interconnected, and they comprise an array of consumer-oriented IoT devices ranging from smartphones and smart TVs to virtual assistants and CCTV cameras.

These devices have cameras, microphones, and other ways of sensing what is happening in our most private spaces—our homes.

However, can people trust that these devices in their homes are safely handling and protecting the sensitive data they have access to?

David Choffnes, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University makes the following statement.

“When we think of what happens between the walls of our homes, we think of it as a trusted, private place. In reality, we find that smart devices in our homes are piercing that veil of trust and privacy—in ways that allow nearly any company to learn what devices are in your home, to know when you are home, and learn where your home is.

“These behaviors are generally not disclosed to consumers, and there is a need for better protections in the home.”

The research team’s extensive study, is titled “In the Room Where It Happens: Characterizing Local Communication and Threats in Smart Homes.” It was presented at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (ACM IMC’23) in Montreal (Canada). The paper delves for the first time into the intricacies of local network interactions between 93 IoT devices and mobile apps, revealing a plethora of previously undisclosed security and privacy concerns with actual real-world implications.

So, here’s the issue:

The study’s findings illuminate new threats associated with the inadvertent exposure of sensitive data by IoT devices within local networks using standard protocols such as UPnP or mDNS. Even though some may have trusted these devices in the past, now is the time to do what is called a re-evaluation.

These threats include the exposure of unique device names, UUIDs, and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by companies involved in surveillance capitalism without user awareness. Of course, while some of the companies have honest intentions at the start, bad eggs are soon to follow.

Vijay Prakash, Ph.D. student from NYU Tandon who co-authored the paper, “analyzing the data collected by IoT Inspector, said his team found evidence of IoT devices inadvertently exposing at least one PII (Personally Identifiable Information), like unique hardware address (MAC), UUID, or unique device names, in thousands of real world smart homes.

According to him, “Any single PII is useful for identifying a household, but combining all three of them together makes a house very unique and easily identifiable. For comparison, if a person is fingerprinted using the simplest browser fingerprinting technique, they are as unique as one in 1,500 people. If a smart home with all three types of identifiers is fingerprinted, it is as unique as one in 1.12 million smart homes.”

These local network protocols can be used to access data that is supposedly protected by several mobile app permissions such as household locations. All they have to do is just asking for it to other IoT devices deployed in the local network using standard protocols like UPnP.

Juan Tapiador, professor at UC3M makes the following remark:

“Our study shows that the local network protocols used by IoT devices are not sufficiently protected and expose sensitive information about the home and the use we make of the devices. This information is being collected in an opaque way and makes it easier to create profiles of our habits or socioeconomic level.”

The impact of this research makes it clear that stakeholder should take action to enhance the privacy and security guarantees of smart home devices and households.