OSSA announces Camera Cyber Security Specification and Council for App Developers

The Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA), an industry body comprised of stakeholders from all facets of the security, safety and building automation space, has announced two important developments as part of its mission to pave the road towards trustworthy and innovative security and safety solutions. First, a new specification is now available to members that focuses on camera cybersecurity measures. OSSA also introduces a new App Developer Council designed to attract and involve app developers in the Alliance’s ever-growing ecosystem of security and safety industry players.

Implementing trustworthiness thresholds

The newest technical specification – the OSSA Camera Cyber Security Specification – contains definitions and guidelines regarding mandatory and optional security determinations for cameras. It is largely based on an existing standard by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), with an additional clear focus on the security market and OSSA philosophy by transparently dividing the roles and responsibilities between camera manufacturers, the operating system (OS) provider and the system-on-chip (SoC) vendor, in particular. The specification also prescribes responsibility changes in the event of individual OS modifications by camera manufacturers. The mandatory part of these guidelines will be used as input for the forthcoming OSSA certification framework. 

The OSSA-orchestrated ecosystem is designed to enhance trust, enable innovation beyond the limits of a single organisation and fuel opportunity for industry stakeholders and customers. The backbone of this initiative is the Alliance’s first Technology Stack that prescribes the use of a common OS along with the first three OSSA Specifications:

• OSSA Application Interface Specification (available to OSSA members)
• OSSA Compliant Camera Definition Specification (available to the public)
• NEW: OSSA Camera Cyber Security Specification (now available to OSSA members)

OSSA App Developer Council

As software application developers are essential to the OSSA ecosystem, the Alliance in early 2021 created a new offering to enable these (usually smaller) companies to weigh-in and be introduced within the security and safety sphere. This is an important corridor to establish between the two groups as the open platform approach continues to flourish and – particularly Android-based – apps become an integral part of customisation and differentiation across the security and safety IoT. The annual OSSA App Developer Council fee is affordable at US$250 or US$500 a year, depending on the size of the developer company. It provides benefits including heavy industry exposure, early access to finalised Alliance deliverables and exclusive insight into the OSSA specification roadmap. Read more about the OSSA App Developer Council here.

“Although our Alliance is young, I’m continually impressed by member agility and a firm commitment to remove barriers and move the mark for the industry to all rise together,” said Johan Jubbega, President, Open Security & Safety Alliance. “We’re steadily delivering on that vision: members have not only embraced the OSSA philosophy but already have actual hardware available in the market and a digital app store to source from. This has led to a new and natural connection with the app developer community. We’re advocating for truly open ecosystems not only within our specific security and safety sectors but are now also broadening to cross-collaborate with other industries and stakeholder groups. I am convinced that the best is yet to come.”

To learn more about OSSA membership and the benefits of getting involved, follow the Alliance’s activities here.