Sigma Designs have announced details of the Z-Wave Security 2 (S2) framework in version 6.7 of its software development kit, due for release in February next year.

“The need for technology providers to take a leadership role in IoT security exists in a big way, and Sigma is embracing that role," Sigma Designs Z-Wave business unit vice president Raoul Wijgergangs said

The smart TV and smart home system-on-chip provider said its updated framework incorporated secure communications not only between home-based devices but also in the cloud-based gateway.

The vendor added QR code and pin-code authentication, which the company claimed “renders man-in-the-middle and brute force attacks powerless”.

The framework incorporates the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) method of secure key exchange.

The Z/IP Cloud Gateway enables tunnelling of all Z/IP traffic through a secure TLS 1.1 tunnel, minimising vulnerabilities with cloud connections, Sigma said.

The new SDK also promises improved battery life, reliability and reduced latency by using a single command structure, rather than the 3-step process used in previous versions.

Sigma said that the upgrades will be fully backwards compatible with existing Z-Wave products, allowing all earlier protocol versions to act as network repeaters.