Tempered
Zero trust network micro-segmentation platform (Airwall) built on Host Identity Protocol, acquired by Johnson Controls in 2022 to secure connected buildings and OT/industrial networks.
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Tempered (formerly Tempered Networks) makes Airwall, a zero trust micro-segmentation platform built on Host Identity Protocol (HIP), an IETF standard-track protocol originally developed at Boeing to create highly secure networked environments. Airwall creates cloaked, encrypted overlay networks on top of a customer’s existing infrastructure, making devices and network segments invisible to unauthorized traffic and enforcing granular, identity-based access control — a model particularly well suited to industrial control systems, building automation, and other operational technology (OT) environments where legacy devices often cannot be patched or natively secured.
Founded in Seattle in 2014 by Jeff Hussey, who previously founded and led F5 Networks (now an S&P 500 company), Tempered Networks built its reputation on securing critical infrastructure and IoT/OT environments before being acquired by Johnson Controls in June 2022. The acquisition folded Airwall’s zero trust technology into Johnson Controls’ OpenBlue platform for connected, autonomous buildings, extending zero trust and micro-segmentation into building management systems, edge gateways, and service technician access across Johnson Controls’ large installed base.
Operating today as a product line within Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) rather than as an independent company, Tempered’s Airwall technology continues to be actively marketed under its own brand, giving it more distinct identity than most acquired product lines retain years after a deal closes. Its relevance is tied directly to the growing recognition that OT and building-automation networks, long treated as separate from IT security, need the same zero trust principles now common in enterprise networking — a genuine and current concern for CISOs responsible for converged IT/OT risk.
Innovation Matrix Assessment
Tempered's Airwall product remains actively marketed under its own brand as of 2026, four years after the Johnson Controls acquisition, and has been integrated into JCI's OpenBlue platform, but there is no evidence of a fast, independent product release cadence since being absorbed into a much larger parent.
Airwall's Host Identity Protocol-based architecture is a real, previously independently deployed technology in critical infrastructure and IoT environments, and it continues to operate with a dedicated product site and marketing presence rather than being fully dissolved into JCI's broader portfolio.
The most significant momentum event was the June 2022 acquisition by Johnson Controls itself; since then, public visibility has been limited mostly to being referenced as a component of JCI's OpenBlue zero trust strategy rather than showing independent growth signals.
Using Host Identity Protocol, an IETF standard-track protocol originally developed at Boeing, to create cloaked, identity-based micro-segmentation is a genuinely different architectural approach from traditional VLAN- and firewall-based network segmentation, particularly valuable for legacy OT and building-automation devices that cannot be natively secured.
Host Identity Protocol is a real, standardized technology with credible origins, and Tempered built a customer base in critical infrastructure prior to acquisition, but no independent post-acquisition case study, breach-prevention data, or third-party evaluation specific to Airwall under Johnson Controls ownership was found.
IT/OT convergence risk and zero trust segmentation for building automation and industrial control systems are active, growing concerns for CISOs responsible for converged physical-cyber risk, and Johnson Controls' massive installed base of building systems gives Airwall real distribution relevance in that space.
Why CISOs Should Care
CISOs responsible for OT, building automation, or industrial control environments get a zero trust micro-segmentation option specifically designed for legacy and unpatchable devices, backed by the scale and distribution of a major building systems company.
What Makes It Different
Airwall's Host Identity Protocol approach cloaks and micro-segments devices at the network identity layer rather than relying on IP-based firewall rules or VLANs, making it distinctly suited to legacy OT and IoT devices that traditional network security tools struggle to protect.
The Matrix Verdict
55/100 — INCREMENTAL INNOVATOR
A technically credible zero trust segmentation technology with a genuine architectural edge for OT and building environments, now operating as a still-branded but subordinate product line inside a much larger industrial parent; scored as a solid, moderately relevant offering rather than an independent innovator.
Editorial Note: Claims vs. Verified Findings
The Johnson Controls acquisition (June 2022), Tempered's Seattle origins, founder Jeff Hussey's prior role at F5 Networks, and the Host Identity Protocol / Boeing origin story are independently corroborated across Johnson Controls press materials and multiple trade publications (SecurityWeek, Facility Executive). Specific claims about deployment scale or detection performance under current Johnson Controls ownership are vendor-sourced and were not independently verified for this profile.
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