STIHL selects Nexus to secure IOT connected equipment
STIHL is a German manufacturer of chainsaws and handheld power equipment with a vast international manufacturing network. Innovation has helped the brand to be the world’s biggest-selling chainsaw brand for over four decades.
STIHL iMOW®, an autonomous robotic lawnmower can be controlled via smartphone apps and even smartwatches thanks to LTE connectivity. However, this development has created new challenges around security. While using smart technology makes it easier to deliver enhanced product features even once the product is “out in the field”, the company didn’t want to lessen the known STIHL quality due to vulnerable communication.
Therefore, Nexus was selected to provide trusted identities in the form of PKI digital certificates for the company’s connected lawnmowers in order to manage the complete identity lifecycle including birth, in-life, and decommissioning. STIHL has been provided with an on-premises Factory CA turnkey solution provisioning the certificates to the devices when they are manufactured in the factory thereby securing a trusted identity from the start.
In addition, Nexus also provides the GO IoT service as an Operational CA. This enables the lawnmowers to connect to and get operational certificates and for the overall lifecycle management of certificates. For both birth and operations certificates, provisioning to the device is based on EST protocol.
Nexus Smart ID IoT and GO IoT service enable STIHL to securely communicate operating system updates, functionality enhancements, and bug fixes, as well as safely onboard new factories and products.
Published
22/03 2022
About STIHL
The STIHL Group develops, manufactures and distributes power tools for professional forestry and agriculture as well as for garden and landscape maintenance, the construction sector and private garden owners. The product range is complemented by digital solutions and services. Products are distributed through authorized dealers and STIHL’s own online-shops, which will be expanded internationally over the next few years – including 41 sales and marketing subsidiaries, about 120 importers and more than 54,000 servicing dealers in over 160 countries. STIHL produces in own plants in seven countries: Germany, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, China and in the Philippines. Since 1971 STIHL has been the world’s top-selling chain saw brand. The company was founded in 1926 and is based in Waiblingen near Stuttgart. In 2020, STIHL achieved a worldwide sales volume of 4.58 billion euros with a workforce of 18,200.
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