From speakers to refrigerators, these can all be controlled by voice or phone. Many homes today are "smart homes," relying on connected devices for easy access even when the person is away.

The revenue of the Matter smart home standard

smart home market is expected to reach US$115.7 billion this year and is expected to grow by 13.97% by 2026. The three-year market size is expected to reach US$19.52 trillion. The number of active users is expected to reach 573.7 million by 2026. Household penetration will reach 14.2% by 2022 and is expected to reach 25.0% by 2026.

Clearly, the smart home market is here to stay, and there is still a lot of room for growth in this market to be realized. But with so many manufacturers and devices to choose from, the smart home space is often a hodgepodge of support and usability. Figuring out which products are compatible with other products can be confusing. Compatibility options may be limited, depending on the manufacturer selected. And, no matter which device a consumer chooses, they are limited to a small subset of devices that are compatible with the chosen platform. Simply put, so far, there has been a lack of unified standards among various smart home technology standards, making it complicated and difficult for devices to work together.

Enter Matter, a smart home standard and lingua franca for communication between smart home devices. Matter's goal is to simplify the marketplace, enabling smart home devices to work with each other across platforms. Developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (Alliance), this new standard will allow consumers to simplify their connected home and manage everything through a single voice assistant of their choice.

Matter is a new standard with global reach, bringing together the connected device industry. Some of the biggest names in smart home technology, including Google, Apple, Amazon, and Samsung, have joined Matter, creating a win-win for consumers and industry manufacturers alike.

Which Manufacturers Need Matter-compliant

Manufacturers of connected devices don't want to wait to become Matter-compliant. Eligible device manufacturers can publish the Matter logo on their devices so customers can trust it and connect seamlessly and securely with their favorite products. There is no doubt that Matter will become the standard consumers look for when purchasing connected home devices, so ensuring product compliance is critical now.

Matter raises the bar for device security by requiring some best practices. It provides the foundation for better security in several ways, including authentication of each device, strong device identity that maintains trust, secure communication, secure software updates, and verification of software integrity. To achieve this, Matter will rely on public key infrastructure (PKI), the longstanding standard for enabling digital trust. Matter devices will have a unique identifier and will be used with a certificate verifying the type and brand of the device. Certificate data will be stored in a secure enclave, which is a protected security chip. Matter-certified devices will also utilize encryption to secure communications.

Over the past three years, DigiCert has worked with members of the Connectivity Standards Alliance to help develop the device attestation aspect of the Matter protocol, which leverages PKI to ensure identity and trust. The basis of interoperability and trust for the Matter Protocol is a shared root of trust, or Product Authentication Authority (PAA), securely created and managed by interested parties. Once these trusted PAAs are established, a Product Authentication Intermediate (PAI) is created and inherits the trustworthiness of the root.

Every compliant member of Matter is required to have a PAI signed by the PAA. From these intermediates a Device Authentication Certificate (DAC), one for each device, is created. These certificates also inherit the trustworthiness of the root and intermediate certificates. Managing this certificate infrastructure requires robust capabilities in automation, configuration, traceability and reporting. A certificate management platform can help with this complex process.

Having the right tools in place to achieve Matter compliance means manufacturers can focus on what they do best: building smart devices. Working with the right partners to deploy scalable PKI products and services can accelerate time to market and enable compliance, making businesses and products ready for the smart home market of tomorrow.