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Dr. Christian Zenger | CEO & Co-founder | PHYSEC GmbH

PHYSEC GmbH: Enabling Secure Connectivity in IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) opens lots of opportunities for businesses and increases the growth of connected devices which has resulted in an exceptional growth in data. The data shared by devices contains a large amount of private information and preserving information security on the shared data is an important issue that cannot be neglected. To make data more secure PHYSEC GmbH offers innovative security products and solutions for the Internet of Things ecosystem and enabling secure connectivity for various scenarios.
PHYSEC GmbH is a high-tech start-up founded by two PhD graduates of Ruhr University Bochum in 2014. The start-up offers IoT security solutions based on groundbreaking technology innovation “Physical Layer Security” which allows for new ways of protecting IoT systems. The vision of the company is to achieve leadership in the IoT security market and to make the digitalization safe for citizens, companies and organizations that are considered part of a country’s critical infrastructure.
Solution for All IoT Devices 
The innovative Physical Layer Technology is the backbone of the solutions offered by PHYSEC GmbH. It makes the protection of IoT security environments at the system-level possible and allows for quantum-resistant implementations of these solutions. The main product PHYSEC offers is “IoTree” which is a full-stack protection solution for IoT systems.
Physical Layer Security technology binds physics (of devices itself or its communication channel) with digital world. It satisfies the need for systemlevel protection as opposed to conventional approaches, which are limited to securing individual chips or PCBs. This allows the protection of embedded software and information through the physical verification (or assessment) of all components that are part of the system. The technology lays the foundation for new IoT security solutions in industries with high security requirements, such as logistics, energy or public infrastructure. A system can either be a complex machine (production machines or ATMs are in our portfolio) or simpler IoT devices.
Furthermore, PHYSEC GmbH can provide their clients with a full-stack IoT security solution; it offers a symbiosis of all three essential components of protection: Device, Communication and Platform.
An Innovator 
Dr. Christian Zenger, Founder and CEO of PHYSEC, founded the company together with Dr. Heiko Koepke based on the knowledge and experience provided by the work on his doctoral thesis. He invented several novel Physical Layer Security technologies and has been awarded as “Innovator under 35” by MIT Technology Review. Zenger teaches at academic level at Ruhr-University Bochum.
In-house Solution 
Except of very expansive appliances and services for nuclear disarmament verification, there are no products or solutions for physical integrity assessment on the market. PHYSEC’s solution is widely applicable and does not need complex customization. The company’s solution to secure wireless communication is unique in a way that it is applicable on top of established communication standard, such as, WiFi, BLE, or ZigBee. While other solutions require novel ultra wideband communication (UWB).
The technology applications are patented and exclusively owned by PHYSEC. Therefore, PHYSEC GmbH offers a product portfolio unlike any of their competitors’. Furthermore, the product portfolios of most other companies only cover some components of the necessary security infrastructure an IoT company needs but PHYSEC GmbH, on the contrary, can provide their clients with full-stack protection. Another important point is the fact that most competitors’ products are not quantum-resistant, while the solutions offered by PHYSEC are.
Series of Achievements 
PHYSEC GmbH is a multiple awardwinning high-tech start-up. It has been awarded as the “Digital Start-up of the Year 2018” by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and won the German IT Security Award 2018, which is the most renowned and highly endowed award in the industry.
Since its foundation in 2014, PHYSEC gained a lot of experience about the market and the industry. An important lesson learned is that keeping the market and the clients in focus while developing products and solutions is absolutely essential. In addition to fast growth as a young company also entails the need for organizational progress, which means that the structure of the company has to adapt to new challenges and expectations. There is one characteristic about the IoT security market: trust between companies is the most important factor.
Knocking Every Marketing Channel 
Today, website and social media presence are important parts of marketing concept, both for maintaining contact with existing clients and being seen by new potential customers. For existing clients, PHYSEC offers the possibility to subscribe to its newsletter. Additionally, the company is present at professional conferences in order to be able to present the company and its solutions. Another channel is fairs and exhibitions- an important opportunity for giving new potential clients the possibility to get to know the company.
Testimonials 
“This young German innovator shows an ‘impressive combination of entrepreneurial and scientific-technical skills’ and is developing a technology ‘with the potential to impact the world.” — Mahvash Siddiqui, Environment, Science, Technology and Health officer at the United States Embassy in London
“Young, innovative, technologically strong — Through the close exchange with PHYSEC we have learned a lot in the field of IT security. We will continue to develop together and learn from each other in the future.” — Christian Faust, CEO, Viessmann Elektronik GmbH