On the Thursday of CEDIA 2025, I stepped away from the very busy SpecOp Secure booth for a few minutes to sit in on the Smart Stage cybersecurity session. The seats were mostly full, but I was surprised there weren’t more integrators there. It was more surprising because I had spent the previous two days talking with integrators who work in the homes of CEOs, traders, and other high-powered executives. These clients are used to enterprise-grade protection at the office, yet many go home — or work primarily from home — with none of the same safeguards.
Built-in tools like Microsoft Defender or McAfee aren’t enough to protect those residential environments. When integrators install or maintain the network, they inherit the risk if something goes wrong. A breach that begins in a home they designed can lead to calls from the client’s IT team, their bank, or even investigators.
At the same time, not offering cybersecurity is a missed business opportunity. Integrators can turn the need for stronger protection into dependable recurring revenue by offering managed cybersecurity services. The budgeting conversation has become easier as well because IRS Section 132 now allows employers to treat certain executive cybersecurity measures as a business expense.
So it was no surprise to me when CE Pro’s September 29 write-up on the session highlighted the same message: “CEDIA Expo 2025 Smart Stage Panel Stresses Cybersecurity Urgency for Integrators.”