The security market is awash in stories about how big companies sought to step in and transform the market, from GE to Cisco to several cable or telecom companies. There is generally a lot of hand-wringing over “what it means” when you hear about a big company entering the market. So far the impact of bigger players on our status quo as a fragmented market has been minimal, but it still causes waves when a big company sets its sights on security. Such is the case with Apple, the latest big consumer company setting its sights on our market.
Apple recently announced that its new iOS 8 software development kit (SDK) includes HomeKit, a standardised network protocol to communicate with and control connected devices in a user’s home. The idea is that you can tell Siri you’re going to bed and she will automatically close the garage door, dim the...