British semiconductor firm ARM Holdings has acquired Internet of Things software developer Offspark for an undisclosed amount earlier this week, showing ARM's move into the smart home business.

Offspark is the developer in charge of PolarSSL, a security protocol for sensor modules, smart home devices and smartphones. The company made its money through partnerships with technology companies, but also offered its PolarSSL for free through open source GNU 2.0.

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It's the second IoT company ARM has acquired. Sensinode (now ARM mbed) was acquired in 2014 and builds operating systems, servers and storage centers for smart homes.

"We are immensely excited to join forces with ARM as it's the front-runner in the embedded world and their expertise will give us invaluable support in expanding the PolarSSL library. Being part of the ARM team will also give us a fantastic boost in our mission to become the world's leading embedded SSL solution." said PolarSSL in a press statement.

"We will continue to support our existing customers exactly as we have in the past and ARM's expansive and established ecosystem will also give us the ability to expand PolarSSL technology to new partners."

ARM is definitely moving towards the inevitable growth of IoT, albeit a lot slower than Intel which has spent millions on IoT already, creating dozens of weird and wonderful smart home devices for showcasing.

TagsARM Holdings, Offspark, PolarSSL, smart home