Mobile devices now have a large and growing share of the network device market. This population boom of mobile devices presents a huge opportunity for industry stakeholders.

As the worlds of mobile security and computer security have become increasingly aligned, TCG has enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with GlobalPlatform, a standards organization for secure digital services and devices.

The two industry organisations have collaborated informally on mobile device security topics since 2013, when they signed their first Project Agreement liaison. TCG’s Trusted Platform Model (TPM) has a strong presence in embedded systems markets and GlobalPlatform’s Secure Element (SE) and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) components are deployed in most mobile devices.

Converging two architectures
TCG’s collaboration with GlobalPlatform aims to provide GlobalPlatform with a better understanding of TCG’s platform integrity technologies and their application to modern use cases. This collaboration influences GlobalPlatform’s specification development and ensures compatibility between TCG and GlobalPlatform’s specifications.

Throughout their cooperation, the two organizations have worked together on a number of projects, with leadership roles for TCG’s Mobile Platform and Embedded Systems Work Groups. The initial collaboration topics were mobile-focused, centered around Roots of Trust for mobile operating systems and applications. Continued collaboration has expanded to include other topics, such as the interworking of TCG and GlobalPlatform technologies, Remote Attestation, and Security Automation.

Since both organizations offer security technologies for the mobile ecosystem, cross over is important for the TCG to help provide cohesive solutions and to achieve adoption in a growing mobile market. By 2025, market forecasts predict that there will be 41.6 billion active IoT network devices generating 79.4 zettabytes (ZB) of data, so the alignment of these TCG and GlobalPlatform areas of specialization couldn’t have come together at a better time.

Working together
By working together in harmony, these two organizations can address the growing demand for IoT and mobile device security. Future demand from device manufacturers, as production of IoT and mobile devices continues to soar, will clearly benefit from the combined efforts of GlobalPlatform and TCG.

Given the expanding topics of common interest, the TCG Board of Directors has officially renewed their liaison agreement with GlobalPlatform. Together, they can create smarter standards for a smarter future.