“In announcing the new solution, Gemalto highlighted potential threats including ‘energy consumption fraud, insight into households’ activity and absence, grid instability, pressure on governments, ID theft.'”

Gemalto has announced a new solution for what may be an overlooked part of the Internet of Things, smart meters.

Comprising ‘smart grids’, smart meters are designed to process a wealth of data concerning energy usage compared to conventional energy meters. While this is of great value to energy companies and offers benefits to consumers as well, it also presents new vulnerabilities in the digital ecosystem: In announcing the new solution, Gemalto highlighted potential threats including “energy consumption fraud, insight into households’ activity and absence, grid instability, pressure on governments, ID theft.”

That being the case, Gemalto says its solution is designed to facilitate connectivity while also securing digital identities and the lifecycles of smart meters. Commenting further, Gemalto Mobile Services and IoT SVP Guillaume Lafaix said that the solution “ensures the integrity and confidentiality of smart meter data while defending against hacking and emerging threats that are typical to this business.”

The solution reflects Gemalto’s focus on the IoT market, an area in which it anticipated “double-digit growth” over 2018 in its latest end-of-year report. The company is highlighting its smart meter solution at this week’s African Utility Week exhibition in Cape Town.