Overview
ISO/IEC TS 30168:2024 - Internet of Things (IoT) - Generic trust anchor application programming interface (GTA API) for industrial IoT devices - specifies a generic programming interface to integrate secure elements and trust anchors into Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices. Published May 2024 (Edition 1.0), this Technical Specification defines architecture, API behavior, language bindings, C header files and guidance for implementation, testing and deployment of secure-element-backed services such as device identity, attestation and data protection.
Keywords: ISO/IEC TS 30168:2024, GTA API, Industrial IoT, trust anchor, secure element, device identity, attestation, API specification.
Key Topics and Requirements
- Architecture and scope: modular GTA API architecture, relation to ISO/IEC 30141, intended IIoT environments and multi-application devices.
- Core concepts: abstraction of secure elements, object information model, identifiers, personalities and profiles for capabilities and policies.
- API specification: function sets for instance/context management, access tokens, device state, data protection, channel protection, secure memory and synchronization. Language binding, endianness and exception handling rules included.
- Profiles and basic use cases: normative basic profiles (e.g., passcode, local data integrity/protection) to standardize common deployments.
- Security and attestation: security classes/levels, offline/online validation and attestation of SEs, personalities and transactions.
- Implementation & testing guidance: annexes with C header files (gta_api.h, gta_apif.h, handles, streams), implementation guidance, secure coding, buffer management and example code.
- Informative scenarios: practical security scenarios for OPC UA, PROFINET and other application protocols, supply-chain trustworthiness, device integrity, feature licensing and blockchain use cases.
Applications and Practical Value
- Device manufacturers and OEMs: integrate secure elements and standardized trust-anchor APIs into sensors, gateways and controllers.
- Secure element and chipset vendors: implement provider interfaces and C headers required by GTA API.
- IIoT platform and system integrators: leverage standard API for secure device identity, attestation, secure storage and cryptographic operations to meet industrial security requirements.
- Security architects and test labs: apply the specification’s testing and attestation guidance to validate device trustworthiness and compliance.
Who Should Use This Standard
- Embedded software developers, secure-element vendors, IIoT device OEMs, system integrators, security engineers, and certification bodies implementing or evaluating secure-anchor capabilities in industrial devices.
Related Standards
- ISO/IEC 30141 (IoT reference architecture) - the TS specifies the GTA API’s relation to that architecture.
- Industry protocols referenced in scenarios include OPC UA and PROFINET (security requirements and example scenarios).
ISO/IEC TS 30168:2024 provides a practical, implementation-oriented baseline for adding trusted secure-element services into Industrial IoT systems, reducing integration friction and improving device-level security and interoperability.