Companies Continue Strategic Commercial Partnership as Data I/O Brings Embedded Trust and Secure Deployment Technology In-House to Deliver End-to-End Security Provisioning from Design to Manufacturing
Data I/O Corporation (NASDAQ: DAIO) and I.A.R. Systems AB (“IAR”) today jointly announced that Data I/O has entered into a non-binding LOI to acquire the embedded software security IP and related assets from IAR. Financial terms of the transaction and anticipated timing were not disclosed.
The proposed acquisition builds directly on the companies’ February 2026 announcement of a technology collaboration unifying security provisioning from embedded design through manufacturing. With this transaction, Data I/O will bring in-house the core technology underlying that collaboration — including the Embedded Trust and Secure Deploy platforms, the eSecIP toolchain, and the certificate authority and provisioning infrastructure originally developed by IAR — while IAR and Data I/O continue their commercial partnership.
Full ownership of the IAR embedded software security technology stack will give Data I/O direct control over the security provisioning roadmap, device support, and release cadence, and position the company to extend its security offering upstream into the design phase while continuing to serve customers through its industry-proven programming and provisioning platforms. The acquisition expands our provisioning platform by giving engineers the ability to design with security in mind as opposed to an afterthought. As Data I/O continues its transformation this strengthens the company’s position as government regulations and industry standards — including the EU Cyber Resilience Act — increasingly mandate robust security measures for connected electronic products.
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The EU Cyber Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/2847) is a comprehensive regulation that sets mandatory cybersecurity and vulnerability-handling standards for nearly all hardware and software products connected to a network. With full mandatory compliance for all products sold in the EU by December 2027, the act introduces lifecycle security requirements, CE marking, security-by-design standards, guaranteed security updates, and includes strict reporting for Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).
The intended transaction between Data I/O and IAR includes, among other assets, software and source code, hardware, intellectual property, engineering infrastructure, manufacturing equipment, and certifications. Following the closing, Data I/O will take full ownership of customer support for these products going forward.
“This acquisition is a natural next step in our evolution of becoming a highly valued supplier for the semiconductor supply chain,” said William Wentworth, President and CEO of Data I/O Corporation. “Our February collaboration showed how well IAR’s embedded software security technology fits with our programming and provisioning platforms. As we advance our future provisioning platform the acquisition of the IP, HSM design gives Data I/O the ability to design Security provisioning into our core platform as opposed having to integrate multiple third-party products. Secure provisioning uses the same infrastructure as Data provisioning, algorithm-based delivery system. Our Data provisioning platform is a natural extension for secure provisioning. The acquisition just makes sense for our roadmap and the ability to move faster for our customers, while our commercial partnership with IAR continues, giving customers the same integrated path from embedded design through high-volume, secure manufacturing. Together with our platform and Programming-as-a-Service strategy, this will give Data I/O a complete, differentiated security provisioning offering with a strong regulatory tailwind ahead of the EU Cyber Resilience Act.”
“We’re pleased to see our partner Data I/O acquire IAR’s embedded software security assets,” said Karin Schreil, Senior Vice President of BU IAR at Qt Group. “IAR acquired the portfolio in 2018 to bring embedded software security into our offering, and many of our customers depend on this technology today. This transaction secures the future of the technology and continuity for customers, with a partner well positioned to invest in it and grow its installed base, while we continue to focus and invest on what is core to IAR and Qt Group. Customers get continuity of the products they rely on today, backed by a partner fully dedicated to their long-term roadmap.”
The companies’ February 2026 collaboration — through which IAR’s embedded software security solution integrates with Data I/O’s PSV programming systems to unify security provisioning from design through production — continues unchanged by this transaction and remains a cornerstone of the joint offering to OEMs worldwide.
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