IoT Security Platform for Device Updates: Thistle Technologies Makes It Simple

If your IoT device can be hacked—or needs a firmware update—it’s time to stop winging it. Embedded World 2025 introduced us to Thistle Technologies, a California-based company with a refreshing take on securing devices. Their secret sauce? A robust, intuitive IoT security platform for device updates that actually makes security manageable—even for non-experts.

Why Embedded Security Is a Nightmare (And Why Thistle Fixes It)

Let’s be honest: building a secure connected device from scratch is slow, expensive, and not for the faint-hearted. We’re talking 12–18 months of painstaking development per device, assuming you’ve got a crack team of security engineers on hand (most don’t).

Thistle Technologies flips the script with a platform-as-a-service model that provides all the tough stuff—identity management, secure boot, encrypted OTA updates, and more—via an easy-to-use software API.

No custom crypto. No security PhD required.

End-to-End Security from Factory to Field

Thistle’s platform secures devices from the moment they’re powered on to the moment they’re updated in the wild. Whether your device lives in a factory, on a farm, or inside a pacemaker (yes, really), the system keeps malicious actors out while making legitimate updates seamless and verifiable.

It’s perfect for:

• Edge AI systems with evolving inference models
• Medical devices with privacy-sensitive data
• Industrial controls needing guaranteed uptime
• Consumer electronics where reputation matters

And let’s not forget: any device that ships without OTA update capabilities is a support nightmare waiting to happen.

Democratise Security, Don’t Delay It

As Raul Vara from Thistle put it, “security gets pushed to the next release because it’s too hard.” Thistle’s mission is to eliminate that excuse. If your development team knows how to make an IoT device, they can secure it—right now—with Thistle.

That means your next product iteration doesn’t need to be an expensive do-over just to retrofit proper security. It’s all there, ready to go.

How to Get Started with Thistle

Curious? You should be. Signing up is as easy as creating an account on their website. If you’d rather test-drive with help, the Thistle team offers demos, workshops, and hands-on guidance to show where security should live in your stack—and how their platform handles it all.