01 / Who this is for
In defense, critical infrastructure, manufacturing and operational technology, knowing who connected is not enough. kin brings Continuous Proof Trust to machine communications, continually renewing confidence in every participating system.
Provenance assurance for the systems that matter most.
No reusable authentication credential to steal.
Approved state
Evidence tied to the device profile
Expected participant
Provenance, not possession alone
Renewed confidence
Fresh proof during operation
02 / WHERE MACHINE TRUST FALLS SHORT
A connection is not proof of trust.
Not every intrusion begins with an exploit. An attacker holding a valid, stolen credential can connect from a device that was never approved, and the system will accept it. The credential was verified. The machine was not. Once that first check passes, trust is largely assumed for the remainder of the session.
That single gap underlies attacks most security teams already know well:
Stolen credentials. A valid credential presented by an unapproved machine.
Man in the middle. An unauthorized party positioned between two systems that believe they are communicating directly.
Replay. Previously captured traffic, resent and accepted as current.
Device cloning. A copied or substituted device accepted as the original.
Packet tampering. Commands altered in transit without detection.
An accelerating threat
AI is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of these attacks. AI-assisted attackers can identify weaknesses, automate intrusion attempts and adapt their techniques with diminishing human involvement. A trust decision made once, at login, was not designed for that pace.
These risks have long been treated as a cost of operating connected systems, because nothing could address them at the root. That is what we set out to change.
03 / A DIFFERENT TRUST MODEL
From inherited trust to fresh proof.
Continuous Proof Trust continually renews confidence in expected, provisioned systems and their relationships. kin helps protect machine communications against spoofing, cloning, replay, tampering, and unauthorized intermediaries.
Know who's expected
Define the provisioned participants and attributes that matter for each relationship.
Prove in context
Require fresh, relationship-bound proof that the participant remains the expected party during operation.
Maintain confidence
Trust can be renewed, degraded, suspended, recovered or terminated. Operational responses follow user-defined policy.
Trust should reflect the device’s current condition
A known device can still become compromised. Through integration with existing security tools, kin can incorporate antivirus and antimalware alerts into ongoing trust determination. When a device’s security state changes, kin can apply an operator-defined response to its protected communications.
What Continuous Proof Trust establishes
Continuous Proof Trust is the architectural model. kin is Iothic's implementation of that model for participating machines, software, services and workloads.
Provenance
Is this the expected, provisioned participant in this specific relationship?
Integrity
Does the evidence match the approved hardware, software and configuration attributes being evaluated?
Authenticity
Are the intended participants communicating without unauthorized impersonation or intermediary participation?
Recognizable attacks. A different trust model.
Explore real-world demonstrations of man-in-the-middle attacks, replay, packet tampering and device cloning, alongside the emerging challenge of AI-assisted and autonomous cyberattacks. Together, they illustrate why machine identity, communication integrity and continuously renewed trust matter.
Man in the Middle
See an unauthorized intermediary enter a communication path, followed by the kin-protected comparison.
Replay
See why previously captured communication cannot satisfy fresh machine proof.
Device Cloning
Watch a copied or substituted participant fail to satisfy the expected trust relationship.
EMERGING THREAT
AI-Assisted & Autonomous Cyberattacks
Artificial intelligence is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyberattacks. AI-assisted attackers can identify vulnerabilities, automate intrusion attempts and adapt their techniques with reduced human involvement.
As threats become more automated, the need to continuously establish machine provenance, verify communication integrity and maintain trust becomes increasingly important.
kin demo in an OT proxy MODBUS flat subnet
Applications
Defence & Deployed
Manufacturing
Critical Infrastructure
Commercial & Industrial
Bring Continuous Proof Trust into your environment.
Protect machine communications, embed Continuous Proof Trust into existing software, or strengthen trusted remote service relationships. Choose the approach that fits your environment.
Continuing machine trust and protected communications between provisioned systems and infrastructure.
Embed machine authentication in software or connected products, working alongside or replacing selected existing authentication paths.
Protect remote machine service relationships while retaining existing human login, MFA, approval and authorization controls.
Research roots. Real-world evaluation.
Iothic combines academic research roots with cybersecurity innovation programmes, defence innovation recognition, and industrial testing experience.
Oxford research roots
Technology developed from a foundation of research associated with the University of Oxford.
NATO DIANA 2026 finalist
Reached the final panel vetting stage for selection into the accelerator programme.
University of Sheffield AMRC
Testing conducted on kin's machine authentication capability at the AMRC.
UK Defence Innovation
Proposal ACC2221281 was accepted as fundable under the UK Defence Innovation initiative.
NCSC for Startups alumnus
Iothic participated in the UK's National Cyber Security Centre startup programme.
Explore the evidence and thinking behind machine trust.
Read public product and application articles, explore operational examples, and access research papers through our technical registration area.
Public articles
OT, defence, infrastructure, machine trust and connected systems.
Research manuscripts
Published and foundational research on machine trust and protected communications.
Access levels
Free registration provides immediate access to the How kin Works introduction and authorized research links. Detailed architecture, integration and implementation materials require separate Iothic approval.
Different paths. The same foundation of proof.
Whether you're deploying security, developing connected products, or exploring a technology partnership, Iothic offers a path to introducing Continuous Proof Trust.
Buying or deploying security?
Discuss threat scenarios, integration requirements, operational resilience, and an evidence-based evaluation.
Building or integrating?
Understand the architecture, software interfaces, implementation boundaries, and technical onboarding.
Embedding or partnering?
Explore OEM licensing, complementary integrations, technology partnerships, and co-development opportunities.
Make machine trust a capability you can prove.
Talk with Iothic about your environment, the threats you're addressing, and how Continuous Proof Trust could be evaluated and integrated into your systems.
Questions about kin
What is Continuous Proof Trust?
Continuous Proof Trust (CPT) is a vendor-neutral architectural model that continually verifies the provenance and integrity of approved machines, software and their communication relationships.
Rather than treating authentication as a one-time event, CPT renews confidence throughout the relationship. kin is Iothic's implementation of Continuous Proof Trust.
Can kin work alongside existing security?
Yes. Depending on the environment, kin can strengthen a selected communication path, work alongside existing controls, or replace an authentication approach where technically appropriate.
How do we explore integration?
Start with a technical briefing to discuss your systems, communication paths, and deployment requirements. Detailed implementation materials require separate Iothic approval.
Can kin work with our existing antivirus and endpoint security tools?
Yes. Through integration, kin can incorporate alerts from antivirus, antimalware and other endpoint security tools into its ongoing trust determination.
When an integrated tool flags a potentially compromised device, that signal can trigger an operator-defined response to its kin-protected communications. This connects existing threat detection with continued machine trust, helping contain potential compromise.
The integration defines which signals are used and how the system responds.
How is kin different from conventional authentication?
Conventional authentication often establishes trust at a single point in time using credentials, tokens or certificates. A stolen but valid authentication credential may be presented by an unauthorized machine.
kin takes a different approach. Its ongoing authentication continually renews relationship-bound proof without storing, exchanging or managing reusable authentication artifacts. This removes the reusable authentication credential theft target from kin's authentication process.
What is machine provenance, and why does it matter?
Provenance provides proof of origin and an unbroken history that something is what it claims to be and hasn't been changed or substituted since it was last verified.
kin establishes a participant's provenance during provisioning and continually renews confidence in its approved relationship. Changes in provenance or trust can trigger an operator-defined response.
Request a Technical Briefing
Tell us about your environment and the systems you need to protect. Whether you are evaluating kin, exploring software integration, or discussing a partnership, we can help define the next step.