Comcast launches digital security service

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast announced at CES the national launch of Xfinity xFi Advanced Security, a new artificial-intelligence-powered service that monitors, blocks and informs customers of online threats to connected devices, and provides seamless digital protection for those devices when connected to their home network.

“As the digital world gets more complex, we wanted to make it simple and easy for our customers to protect their home networks. That's why we developed xFi Advanced Security,” Fraser Stirling, senior vice president of Digital Home, Devices and AI, Comcast Cable, said in the announcement. “We want to give customers digital peace of mind for the devices they already own and the confidence to expand and evolve their connected homes knowing that every new camera, voice-assisted speaker or smart thermostat they add will be protected.”

By 2022, Cisco estimates that there will be more than 13 connected devices per person in North America, and many consumers don't have access to the expertise or the tools to keep those devices secure, especially when many of these technologies don't have keyboards or screens. In addition, Symantec reported that the number of attacks against Internet-of-things devices is growing exponentially, increasing 600 percent between 2016 and 2017, alone, creating new concerns for connected home users.

xFi Advanced Security was developed to protect devices in this new hyper-connected reality, said Comcast. “It uses AI and machine learning technology to monitor and analyze WiFi traffic in the home, and will automatically block identified suspicious activity in real time,” the company noted. “Using a simple, intuitive user interface, the technology informs customers of blocked threats, and when necessary, provides instructions on how to further secure affected devices.”

The xFi Advanced Security service protects all of the devices in a customer's home that are connected to the Xfinity Advanced Gateway with no set-up required, other than turning the device on. There's nothing for the customer to install or configure, and once the device is turned on, the xFi Advanced Security service starts working immediately. Protection is automatically extended to any device that is connected to the home network wirelessly or by ethernet. Customers can review a list of digital security-related actions that were taken each day right from the xFi dashboard—accessible from the mobile app or online. This seamless experience is possible because the technology behind xFi Advanced Security is fully integrated into xFi Gateways. Xfinity xFi is a digital dashboard for internet customers to manage their home WiFi network and connected home.

xFi Advanced Security is the latest addition to Comcast's Xfinity xFi platform, which gives customers a simple, digital dashboard to set up and manage their home WiFi networks and allows users to see what devices are connected to the network, troubleshoot issues, set parental controls, get notifications about activities on the home network, and even pause WiFi access to certain devices during dinner or bedtime. xFi users can also ensure whole-home WiFi coverage by adding xFi Pods, small, easy to install devices that plug into any electrical outlet and extend connectivity to hard to reach areas of their home.