Investigation reveals media streaming devices sold at major U.S. retailers silently tunnel third-party internet traffic, including potentially stolen credentials and enterprise security bypass operations through subscribers’ home broadband connections

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 28, 2026 — Plume Design, Inc. (“Plume”), the global subscriber experience platform for more than 450 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across 58 countries, today released a report that uncovers significant security concerns found in SuperBox Android streaming devices sold at major U.S. retailers, which contain dormant software that when activated converts consumers’ home internet connections into nodes in a residential proxy network or SuperProxy. The proxy routes unknown third-party traffic that includes potentially stolen credentials, account takeover materials and enterprise security bypass operations through subscriber households without their knowledge or consent. The report, based on a months-long investigation, is the first in a series from Plume’s Security Labs.

“The average connected home is becoming increasingly complex, more like a corporate network, and threats like this one illustrate the need for significantly enhanced levels of intelligence and security,” said Chris Griffiths, Chief Technology Officer at Plume. “ISPs are better situated than ever to be on the forefront of detecting and resolving these issues. By leveraging AI and large-scale network orchestration across hundreds of millions of devices, we can help ISPs spot anomalies that individual households or traditional security tools often miss, and act on them before they spread.”

Plume manages one of the most comprehensive data sets in the telecommunications industry, monitoring more than 500 million connected devices across 40 million households globally. After an alert from a customer, Plume’s Network Operations Center flagged anomalous outbound traffic from an unusually high number of streaming devices across its network. The traffic volume was sufficient to destabilize residential networks, prompting Plume’s Security Labs to launch a comprehensive technical investigation into streaming devices, spanning multiple models, across its user base.

“The SuperProxy investigation is a wake-up call,” said Eric Svenson, Vice President, Technology Engineering and Operations at Armstrong, (a multi-state operator based in Pennsylvania). “Consumer devices are being weaponized inside our subscribers’ homes, and as their ISP, we have both the responsibility and the vantage point to do something about it. Plume’s research is the kind of partnership our industry needs more of; work that protects Armstrong customers today and sets a higher standard for what every subscriber should expect from their provider.”

“These devices ship with remote access and full administrative control, wide open and require no password, no authentication, no user approval,” said Griffiths. “Unfortunately, this isn’t limited to a single product. The same residential proxy software was used in other types of consumer media streaming devices and also used in other malicious campaigns such as the Vo1d botnet, which demonstrates this is a broader supply-chain problem across the streaming ecosystem.”

Five Key Findings

A streaming app secretly turns the device into a proxy network node. One of the apps available through SuperBox’s custom application store, Cyberflix TV, contains hidden proxy software called Popanet that silently registers the device with a remote command server and begins relaying foreign internet traffic through the subscriber’s home connection. Plume’s telemetry recorded tens of thousands of outbound connections per device per day to thousands of distinct destinations.

Sensitive credentials and security bypass attempts are flowing through subscriber homes. Researchers intercepted the actual traffic being routed through the proxy and found sensitive login credentials for gaming platforms, messaging app verification codes that could be used for real-time account takeovers, deliberate attempts to defeat enterprise security systems and large-scale automated web scraping, all passing through consumer broadband connections without the subscriber’s knowledge.

Plume mapped more than 250 proxy server addresses. Researchers fully reverse-engineered Popanet’s command-and-control protocol — the first publicly known teardown of this system — and mapped more than 250 verified server addresses across multiple hosting providers, revealing a professionally built proxy operation.

A security flaw in the proxy’s own code exposes the home network. The proxy attempts to block access to the subscriber’s local network, but contains a bypass that was confirmed through live testing. Remote proxy users can exploit this flaw to reach the device’s own internal services, potentially extending the compromise beyond the device to the home network itself.

SuperBox’s custom app store bypasses all standard Android safety checks. The store installs software silently with full administrative privileges: no security verification, no warnings and no user approval. Its catalog is controlled by the store’s operator, not by Google nor the device owner.

Plume’s Approach

Plume is identifying and isolating these proxies for blocking at multiple levels and sharing intelligence with its ISP customers. Monitoring these proxies is extending Plume’s detection capabilities to additional threat types including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) tools and botnets.

Multi-phased Research

This is Part 1 of a three-part investigative series into SuperBox and the hidden security risks it presents inside subscriber homes. Part 2 will expose the malware ecosystem exploiting subscriber devices, including botnet agents and competing proxy SDKs, and detail how Plume helps ISPs detect and block these threats. Part 3 will examine the content delivery infrastructure behind SuperBox’s “latest movies” promise, presenting technical evidence that raises serious questions about the origin of that content.

The full research paper is available at:
plume.com/resources/superproxy-the-unhealthy-marriage-of-superbox-and-residential-proxies

About Plume
Plume established the first managed WiFi platform for ISPs in 2016, enabling the company to scale across the globe and expand into managing the entire subscriber experience, including approximately 500 million connected devices, in 40 million homes, on behalf of 450 ISPs, across 58 countries. By integrating managed WiFi, cybersecurity and customer care, Plume created the first open, hardware-agnostic SaaS Subscriber Experience Platform for ISPs. Powered by an unmatched global dataset and AI optimization, the Plume Platform builds subscriber confidence through improved Wi-Fi experiences, seamless new service implementation and proactive customer care. Plume’s open-source framework OpenSync® is pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs at plume.com.

About Armstrong
For over 80 years, Armstrong has been a leader in telecommunications technology and innovation. Founded in 1946 by Jud L. Sedwick as Armstrong County Line Construction, Armstrong remains a family-owned and operated company deeply committed to the communities it serves.

Armstrong’s world-class fiber network spans six states—Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, and Kentucky—delivering advanced infrastructure with a focus on exceptional customer service and satisfaction. The company provides 24/7 local support, transparent pricing, and complimentary technical service to residential and business customers throughout its service area.

For more information on Armstrong’s Advanced Fiber Network, please visit ArmstrongOneWire.com/network.

When streaming services like Netflix went mainstream, they didn’t just change how households consumed content. They redefined what “good broadband” actually meant. Networks that delivered Netflix flawlessly became the networks subscribers chose, recommended, and stayed loyal to. Netflix’s own ISP Speed Index became a public scoreboard, and ISP product teams optimized, quite literally, to climb it. Streaming wasn’t just a service riding on top of the network; it became a yardstick for the network itself.

Today, a new yardstick is emerging.

LLMs have been adopted faster than any consumer technology in modern history. ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer application ever, reaching 100 million users in two months, a pace UBS analysts called the steepest consumer-internet ramp they had seen in twenty years. And the data we see across Plume-enabled homes confirms the trend hasn’t peaked. It has accelerated. Subscribers aren’t just trying these tools; they are embedding them into how they work, how they think, and increasingly, how they protect their livelihood in a job market being reshaped by AI itself.

At Plume, we are studying how tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, and the next wave of agentic assistants like Claude Code and Cowork, are showing up in real homes. What we see is striking.

As of April 2026, more than 1 in 5 active Plume-enabled locations, approximately 22%, show regular AI app traffic on their home Wi-Fi, up from 19% a year ago. That number is intentionally conservative: it captures only what we can see crossing the home network, on the home network. Independent research suggests the broader picture is far larger. Parks Associates reports that 58% of US internet households now use generative AI tools when self-reporting across all devices. In other words, AI in the home has plenty of runway left, and what is happening inside the homes already using it is anything but steady.

Among AI-using households, total data volume tied to AI apps has grown by roughly 2,000% year-on-year. Time spent connected to AI apps, what we measure as “online seconds”, has climbed 364% over the same period, and a further 80% since the start of 2026 alone. Median session length has lengthened by around 30% year-on-year.

The leader is unsurprising: ChatGPT now accounts for roughly 2x the time-on-app of any other AI tool in our footprint, with median sessions approaching 5 minutes. But the fastest movers may be more telling. Perplexity and Claude are the fastest-growing AI apps in both data volume and usage. Microsoft Copilot is currently the slowest-growing of the major players.

These are not quick lookups. Multi-minute, interactive, real-time sessions imply something networks rarely had to optimize for in the chatbot era: sensitivity to latency, jitter and micro-outages, not just peak bandwidth.

The most important signal in our data isn’t how much AI is being used. It is how it is being used. The first wave of consumer LLM adoption was conversational and human-prompted. The second wave, already visible, is agentic: AI tools that run multi-step tasks, call APIs, sync with mailboxes and storage, schedule, monitor, and act semi-autonomously on behalf of the subscriber.

For ISP networks, this is a different beast. Agentic AI introduces persistent background traffic as agents synchronise and monitor outside of active sessions; machine-to-machine and API-heavy patterns as multi-step workflows ripple across dozens of SaaS services; and bursty, recurring workloads triggered by a single user command. Reliability stops being a nice-to-have. When one micro-outage breaks a multi-step automation, the user doesn’t see a buffering icon. They see a failed task. And increasingly, that task is part of how they earn a living.

This is exactly the kind of shift Plume’s AI platform was built to absorb. Our Application Intelligence identifies the most popular LLMs across our global footprint and tracks how subscribers actually use them. Our Behavior Intelligence monitors how the nature of that usage is evolving, from chatbot to autonomous agent, so the network can adapt in real time, not in hindsight.We also make such insights available to our ISPs through API and our Operator Suite so they can also make better decisions on network planning. The AI landscape is moving faster than any consumer category before it. Plume will continue to study LLMs and their evolution into autonomous agents, and to ensure operators on our platform are ready to deliver Quality of Outcome, not just Quality of Experience, for the workflows their subscribers increasingly depend on.

The next Netflix moment isn’t coming. It’s already here.

Under new leadership, global connectivity provider recognized for culture transformation, employee-first approach and deep emotional connection across a worldwide team

PALO ALTO, CA — April 15, 2026 — Plume Design, Inc. (“Plume”), the global technology leader trusted by more than 450 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across 58 countries, today announced it has earned Most Loved Workplace® Certification from Most Loved Workplace® and the Best Practice Institute less than one year after launching a company-wide culture transformation initiative under new leadership. This certification, based on the proprietary Love of Workplace Index® (LOWI) framework, is awarded to organizations where employees demonstrate the deepest levels of positive sentiment, shared values and emotional connection to their work. Plume will be featured among certified Most Loved Workplaces® in upcoming editions in The Economist (May 2026) and The Wall Street Journal (October 2026).

The recognition marks a significant milestone in a deliberate transformation. When Dan Herscovici assumed the role of President and CEO in April 2025, he made culture one of the company’s first strategic priorities. Over the past year, the company has undertaken a company-wide culture initiative anchored in rebuilding trust, strengthening accountability and ensuring every Plume team member feels they belong and can do their best work. The results can be measured through the LOWI framework and are reflected in employees’ own words, describing their experiences.

“There is a beautiful collaborative spirit that runs through Plume. We problem solve as a team, challenging each other in a psychologically safe manner, to come up with the best solutions. We have a shared desire to deliver excellent service to our customers.”

“The company’s focus on improving culture has helped me grow personally and professionally. There is a new direction that was missing previously and now there is always something new to learn.”

“The new tone that is being set at the top of the company is refreshing and reaffirming. Plume has clear goals, and what we are working towards is exciting. My colleagues, including supervisors and team members, are all great to work with.”

“We have an incredible culture of transparency, empowerment and accountability. Every day we have interesting, technical challenges to solve, which is rewarding. Our leaders give us the right balance of support and autonomy.”

“When I joined Plume, I came to a company with extraordinary technology and an outstanding team of professionals that wanted to believe in where they worked, so we made creating a great culture and rewarding work environment one of our top objectives,” said Mr. Herscovici. “We treated it as a business imperative, because you cannot deliver world-class experiences for 450 ISP customers if the people building the products and solutions don’t feel respected and heard. Building better connections is not just a tagline, it is a commitment that we strive for every day, not only with our customers, but equally with our team members. This recognition reflects the genuine commitment we have made to implementing changes that employees can see and feel. We are proud of being recognized for our efforts, and we intend to keep earning our team members’ trust and respect.”

“Culture transformation at a company with offices around the world doesn’t happen by sending an email,” said Lorie Boyd, Chief People Officer at Plume. “We set out to rebuild trust, to create real accountability and to make sure every team member, in every country we operate, felt seen and supported. What made this real was that we didn’t treat it as an HR initiative. It was a complete commitment from the CEO down through the entire organization. The words our employees used to describe their experiences here tell us the work is landing. That is what matters most.”

Most Loved Workplace® certification is earned following LOWI assessment across the five SPARK dimensions: Systemic Collaboration, Positive Future, Alignment of Values, Respect and Killer Outcomes.

“What sets Most Loved Workplaces apart is not a score on a survey — it is the depth of emotional connection employees feel to their work, their colleagues and the future they are building together,” said Louis Carter, CEO and Founder of Best Practice Institute and Most Loved Workplace®. “Plume demonstrates exactly what the SPARK model reveals in the highest-performing organizations: a positive vision of the future that people believe in, values that are lived not posted and leaders who create the conditions for people to love where they work. That is not soft. That is a competitive advantage.”

Plume powers intelligent, cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and subscriber experience services for more than 450 ISPs globally — including Bell, Charter, Jio, J:COM, Liberty Global and FPT Telecom — delivering reliable, secure and personalized experiences across nearly half a billion connected devices worldwide.

The culture initiative coincides with a period of accelerating business momentum. Over the past 12 months, Plume has:

• Expanded its ISP partnerships to more than 450 across 58 countries
• Acquired Sweepr, a leading AI care orchestration platform, enabling industry-first unifying network intelligence and digital care in a single platform offering
• Launched the industry’s first open Agentic AI platform for ISPs, built on telemetry and network insights from 500 million connected devices
• Made a commitment to open standards by joining organizations such as RDK Community, prpl Foundation and Connectivity Standards Alliance
• Deepened partnerships by deploying advanced WiFi 7 technology with marquee ISPs including J:COM in Japan and FPT Telecom in Vietnam

Plume joins a global community of certified companies recognized by Most Loved Workplace® for placing the emotional wellbeing and connection of their people at the center of how they operate. For more on why Plume was certified as a Most Loved Workplace®, visit https://mostlovedworkplace.com/companies/plume/.

Ms. Boyd will participate in a Most Loved Workplace hosted webinar, Rebuilding Belief in Employee Voice, on Wednesday, April 15 at 3 pm Eastern. Click here to register for the free webinar.

About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and workflow orchestration – all powered by an unmatched dataset and AI. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver subscriber confidence through better Wi-Fi experiences, new services, and proactive customer care. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Combined with powerful AI orchestration tools with its acquisition of Sweepr, Plume now offers ISPs a true end-to-end solution to power their most important workflows and customer experiences, while making deployment simpler and faster. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive, build subscriber confidence, and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.

About Most Loved Workplace®
Most Loved Workplace® is a certification and research organization that identifies companies where employees demonstrate the deepest levels of positive sentiment and emotional connection, measured across the five SPARK dimensions: Systemic Collaboration, Positive Future, Alignment of Values, Respect, and Killer Outcomes. Certified Most Loved Workplaces® are eligible for inclusion on annual Top 100 lists featured in leading publications such as The Economist (Top 100 Global Most Loved Workplaces) and The Wall Street Journal (America’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces), and on broadcast features on CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg and others. Learn more at mostlovedworkplace.com.

Plume Platform powers smarter, more consistent in-home Wi-Fi experiences across FPT subscriber base

HANOI, VIETNAM and PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA —MARCH 18, 2026—FPT Telecom, one of Vietnam’s leading telecommunications and Internet service providers and a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, today announced a strategic partnership with personalized smart services pioneer Plume® to bring the globally recognized Plume Platform to FPT Telecom subscribers across Vietnam. The deployment marks a significant step in FPT Telecom’s ongoing commitment to delivering the best possible in-home connectivity experience for its customers.

FPT’s network leverages the Plume Platform’s advanced Wi-Fi optimization and AI-informed application recognition and prioritization technologies to create a more consistent, reliable home network that adapts to the way each household uses the Internet. Whether subscribers are streaming video, joining video calls, gaming or working from home, the Plume Platform intelligently identifies and prioritizes the applications and activities that matter most, ensuring smoother performance across every connected device. Powered by cloud-based analytics and AI/machine learning, Plume continuously improves performance by learning from patterns across tens of millions of households globally, helping the network adapt to new devices and applications over time.

“Our mission at Plume is to help the world’s best internet service providers deliver the best customer experience possible,” said Dan Herscovici, President and CEO of Plume. “FPT’s commitment to putting the customer experience first aligns perfectly with what Plume does every day for ISPs around the world and we look forward to helping them deliver a network experience that truly reflects that commitment, powered by Wi-Fi-optimization and AI-informed application prioritization capabilities to subscribers across Vietnam.”

Today’s households rely on Wi-Fi for an ever-growing range of activities, from remote work and online education to high-definition streaming and smart home devices. Delivering consistent, high-performance connectivity across every corner of the home is no longer a nice-to-have; it is essential. By selecting Plume as a technology partner, FPT is taking a proactive step to meet that demand and raise the bar for the subscriber experience in Vietnam.

“At FPT, improving customer experience is always our top priority,” said Mr. Le Trung, Director of Infrastructure Development and Management Center, FPT Telecom, FPT Corporation. “We are a technology pioneer in Vietnam and among the first to widely deploy Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7, as well as introduce broadband services of up to 10Gbps. Building on this foundation, we continuously collaborate with leading technology partners to further enhance the quality and consistency of in-home Wi-Fi, enabling our subscribers to enjoy seamless, best-in-class connectivity for their everyday digital needs”.

The Plume Platform on the FPT network delivers several AI-driven Wi-Fi optimization and security benefits to subscribers including:

• Intelligent Wi-Fi optimization that continuously adapts the home network to improve speed, coverage and reliability for every connected device.
• AI-informed application recognition and prioritization that identifies the apps and activities subscribers care most about — such as streaming, video calls and gaming — and ensures they perform at their best.
• A more consistent connectivity experience across the home, reducing buffering, lag and the frustrations that come with a poorly performing network.
• Advanced in-home security that helps protect every connected device—blocking malicious destinations and supporting capabilities like intrusion detection, IoT anomaly detection and device quarantine.

Through this partnership, FPT and Plume are working together to set a new standard for in-home Wi-Fi in Vietnam, one that places the needs and daily digital habits of subscribers at the center of everything while building trust.

About FPT Telecom
FPT Telecom Joint Stock Company is one of Vietnam’s leading telecommunications and Internet service providers, and a member company of FPT Corporation — the largest IT corporation in Vietnam. Established in 1997, FPT Telecom was a pioneer in bringing Internet connectivity to Vietnamese citizens and continues to serve millions of households and businesses nationwide. Its services span broadband Internet (including fiber-to-the-home), IPTV, data center, cloud computing, and value-added digital services. FPT Telecom is guided by a customer-first philosophy and a continuous commitment to deploying state-of-the-art technology to deliver outstanding digital experiences. Learn more at https://www.fpt.vn.

About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and workflow orchestration – all powered by an unmatched dataset and AI. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver subscriber confidence through better Wi-Fi experiences, new services, and proactive customer care. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Combined with powerful AI orchestration tools with its acquisition of Sweepr, Plume now offers ISPs a true end-to-end solution to power their most important workflows and customer experiences, while making deployment simpler and faster. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive, build subscriber confidence, and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.

Former Cisco and Meraki executive to oversee Plume’s go-to-market strategy with a focus on deepening engagement with ISP customers and building subscriber confidence by turning intelligence into action

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Plume, a leader in cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and smart home services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), today announced the appointment of Rebecca Stone as the company’s new Chief Marketing Officer.

Stone brings more than 20 years of experience leading global enterprise and service provider marketing organizations across brand, product marketing, growth, and revenue strategy, as well as a deep understanding of service provider needs across multiple industry tiers. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Revenue Marketing and Customer Solutions Marketing at Cisco, where she oversaw media, integrated marketing, campaign planning, content marketing and operations, and demand marketing for Cisco’s $50B networking portfolio.

At Plume, Stone will help Plume deepen engagement with ISP customers while clearly articulating the value of the company’s expanding capabilities around intelligent Wi-Fi management, telemetry and analytics, cybersecurity, and customer care, powered by an unprecedented dataset and artificial intelligence. Plume aims to work with ISPs to strengthen subscriber confidence by turning data and insights into action, including a more robust offering that incorporates powerful AI orchestration technology from recently acquired Sweepr.

“The industry is shifting quickly, and Plume is entering a new chapter: one platform, a stronger customer experience, and more value from data and AI for ISPs,” said Dan Herscovici, CEO of Plume. “In a market this crowded, clarity wins and we’re going to make Plume the obvious choice. Rebecca has built and scaled world-class marketing teams across cloud, networking, and service providers. Her customer empathy and ability to translate complex technology into differentiated value will be critical as we help partners stand out, grow, and compete.”

Plume’s cloud platform connects nearly half a billion devices, creating an unmatched foundation of real-world network and device telemetry across diverse home environments. In this rapidly evolving broadband landscape—with rising subscriber expectations, intensifying competition, and AI shaping service delivery—Stone will oversee marketing strategy, brand positioning, and go-to-market execution as the company enters its next phase of growth. She will play an integral role in how Plume communicates this refreshed approach and suite of new capabilities to ISPs and the broadband industry, bringing them to life with clarity and inspiration across channels.

“I’m delighted to join Plume at this transformative moment in the company’s growth,” says Rebecca Stone, Chief Marketing Officer at Plume. “I’ve spent my career focused on building innovative marketing teams that accelerate growth and drive customer success, especially in an increasingly AI-powered landscape. There’s nothing more valuable than hearing from your customers, learning from them, and turning those insights into action that propels their success. I look forward to curating experiences where Plume can engage in a deeper and more meaningful way with them in the year ahead.”

Prior to Cisco, Stone was Chief Marketing Officer at Meraki, where she doubled the global marketing team to 150 employees, led a major rebrand and messaging transformation, and grew marketing-sourced pipeline contribution to 35%. At LiveRamp, she served as VP of Marketing, leading a team of 70 marketers and sales staff and helping the company expand from $20M to $300M+ in four years. She previously held marketing leadership roles at DataSift and Calix, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from UC Santa Barbara.

About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and workflow orchestration – all powered by an unmatched dataset and AI. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver subscriber confidence through better Wi-Fi experiences, new services, and proactive customer care. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. Combined with powerful AI orchestration tools with its acquisition of Sweepr, Plume now offers ISPs a true end-to-end solution to power their most important workflows and customer experiences, while making deployment simpler and faster. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive, build subscriber confidence, and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.

SOURCE Plume Design, Inc.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Plume today announced its membership in the prpl Foundation, a leading industry global alliance advancing open-source and open-standard development for next-generation connected devices. As a Gold member, the second highest tier, Plume will collaborate with industry peers to accelerate innovation in cloud-based services and broadband and IoT intelligence for Internet service providers (ISP) and provide exceptional consumer experience.

Plume is participating in this week’s Global prpl Summit 2025 in Paris, France, (13-14 October) – the annual gathering of prpl members advancing open standards for the connected home. There, the company will share an early demonstration of their technology now running on the prpl platform – a first step toward delivering its hallmark consumer experience innovations through open standards.

As part of its support of industry standards, Plume is adopting a more open and collaborative approach with its ISP customers and technology partners, meeting them where their technology needs are as they increasingly deploy hardware and services powered by prpl. Plume’s cloud-based platform — with advanced services and APIs for Wi-Fi management, customer care, network intelligence, and security — delivers added intelligence and value to prpl-based deployments.

“Integrating our cloud-based platform with the prpl framework gives us the flexibility to deliver new levels of intelligence across the connected home,” said Plume CTO Chris Griffiths. “It’s an important step toward realizing a more open, software-defined future – one that elevates the consumer experience while enabling our ISP partners to innovate faster.”

“Plume’s membership underscores the continued industry commitment to advancing open standards for the connected home,” said Dr. Leonard Dauphinee, president of prpl Foundation. “We look forward to their participation and contributions to the prpl community as we work together to expand the benefits of openness and interoperability.”

At the NetworkX exhibition in Paris, Plume will also host customer meetings in its private meeting room (Pavilion 7 – Atrium Room 738) and will discuss the future of broadband and IoT experiences, including the responsible adoption of AI, self-healing home networks, and the development of a network intelligence operating system that will define the next era of connectivity and the consumer experience.

About Plume
Plume created the first managed Wi-Fi platform for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 2016 and continues to lead today with a best-in-class solution for cloud-managed Wi-Fi, security, and experience. With almost half a billion devices connected to its platform, Plume is a trusted technology partner for more than 400 ISPs around the world, helping them deliver better Wi-Fi experiences and services for subscribers while streamlining their own operations and support systems. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs, and supports leading industry standards like RDK-B and prplWave. This approach allows Plume to offer turnkey and modular solutions, giving ISPs ultimate flexibility, while enabling simpler and faster deployments. Plume is leading the way in providing ISPs an intelligence and innovation edge to stay competitive and adapt to the changing needs of subscribers and the market. Discover more about how Plume is empowering ISPs by visiting https://www.plume.com.

About prpl Foundation
The prpl Foundation is a collaborative open-source community dedicated to open APIs and open industry standards, focusing on carrier-grade software for broadband customer premise equipment as specified by operator members. The prpl Foundation brings together service providers, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, chip vendors and application developers to harmonize home network architecture, then commonizes a reference implementation of standardized open-source infrastructure built atop open APIs and open industry standards. prpl enables a service delivery ecosystem including innovative third-party applications that can be quickly and easily deployed across different CPE platforms. Learn more about prpl Foundation at https://prplfoundation.org/members/.

SOURCE Plume Design, Inc.

Industry veteran to build on Plume’s momentum as the trusted AI-driven platform for communications service providers

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Plume is naming Daniel Herscovici to lead and kickstart the company’s next phase of growth as Plume redefines intelligent, adaptive connectivity for 65 million homes and small businesses worldwide and growing. The creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for communications service providers (CSPs), selected the longtime innovator in the connected home, broadband, and WiFi sectors as their president and CEO to capitalize on the opportunity presented by increasingly intelligent networks and rising consumer demands.

Herscovici brings decades of leadership experience at the intersection of connectivity, AI, and consumer technology. Prior to joining Plume, he was a partner at Edison Partners, helping scale high-growth companies across the B2B and consumer tech landscape. Before that, he spent over a decade at Comcast, most recently as senior vice president and general manager of Xfinity Home, where he drove the creation of breakthrough smart home, WiFi, and IoT products that reshaped the market and are now embedded in millions of households. He has also held CEO and board roles across several leading tech companies.

“Connectivity, security, privacy, and control are the foundation of consumers’ daily lives, and Plume is at the forefront of making connectivity smarter, faster, and easier for everyone,” said Herscovici. “I’ve spent my career building products that enhance consumers’ lives through engaging connected services, and I’m energized to focus on what Plume does best: solve problems before they happen, make technology invisible for consumers, and deliver real, measurable results for our global partners.”

Co-founder Adam Hotchkiss, who had been serving as interim CEO, will transition to chief product officer, continuing to lead Plume’s long-term product vision and technology roadmap.

“It’s been nearly a decade since we started Plume, and while the industry has evolved, our mission remains as strong as ever; to enable CSPs to deliver exceptional connected experiences,” said Hotchkiss. “With Dan’s appointment, Plume’s continuing its momentum into our next chapter with the added experience and execution muscle to match our global ambition. Dan brings a deep understanding of the customer and the opportunity ahead of us.”

With one of the largest connected device datasets in the world, Plume’s AI engine learns from billions of interactions to proactively resolve issues, personalize experiences, and adapt in real time. Plume’s ability to turn data into action positions it as a foundational platform for the future of the connected home, reducing costs while unlocking new service and growth opportunities at scale.

“Plume is helping to transform broadband and unlock new capabilities in smart spaces and critical infrastructure for some of the world’s top providers,” said Ryan Hinkle, Managing Director at Insight Partners and Plume Board Member. “We are excited to welcome Dan, a seasoned technology leader, as CEO and look forward to partnering with him and the leadership team on Plume’s continued evolution as a category-defining intelligent WiFi platform.”

Media queries: corporatecomms@plume.com.

About Plume
Plume is the creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for communications service providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, deployed in more than 65 million locations globally. As the only open and hardware-independent, cloud-controlled solution, Plume enables the rapid delivery of new services for smart homes, small businesses and beyond, at massive scale. On the front end, Plume delivers self-optimizing, adaptive WiFi, cybersecurity, access, parental controls and more. CSPs get robust data- and AI-driven back-end applications for unprecedented visibility, insights, support, operations and marketing. Plume leverages OpenSync, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE and platform SDKs.

Plume, Plume Home, OpenSync, HomePass, WorkPass, Uprise and Haystack are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Plume Design, Inc. Other Plume and product names are used for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Plume Design, Inc.

Happy 2025, everyone. The new year brings a lot to consider – plans for the upcoming months, habits to start or renew, and reflections on the previous year. As we have covered in Plume IQ, the holiday period is one of the most interesting times for consumer behavior insights. Companies plan roadmaps and marketing campaigns specifically to drive purchases in just a few short weeks at the end of the year. In our first issue of 2025, we’re going to look at how the gaming industry did.

Not surprisingly, gaming devices were again one of the most popular gift items given during the holiday season. For the last few years, Plume IQ has tracked the popularity of these specific gifts by noting how many times we see a gaming device for the first time on our networks. Throughout the year they remain one of the most popular consumer devices to join Plume networks. In 2024, we saw tens of thousands of gaming devices added each week in the United States – a good baseline to compare against holiday performance.

Compared to an average week in 2024, the weeks in December saw meaningfully more gaming devices added. The first two weeks (starting on 12/2 and 12/9) saw 8% and 6% gains, respectively. Larger spikes followed: the week starting 12/16 saw 28% more gaming devices added, and the week starting 12/23 (Christmas and Hanukkah week) saw a stunning 233% increase in gaming devices added to Plume networks.

Nintendo devices were the winner, beating both Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation. Of those three brands, Nintendo accounted for 37.4% of new gaming devices added in December. Sony wasn’t far behind, with 37.2% of the share of new devices among the three and Microsoft, as has been the case in years past, came in third with a 25% share of the increase. Game on.

Join us at the NCTC Winter Educational Conference (WEC). On February 25th from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm ET, Plume Acting CEO and Co-founder Adam Hotchkiss will delve into Optimizing Network Efficiency: Strategies and Benefits of Offloading Cellular Data to Wi-Fi Networks.

Interested in learning more? Book a meeting with Plume here.

OpenSync 6.6 is now available. This comprehensive update enables key advancements for WiFi 7, unified management, and 5G Uplink support.

OpenSync 6.6 Highlights:

• MLO for WiFi 7: Met the Wi-Fi Alliance requirement for the WiFi 7 certification
• Simplified Integration: platform-agnostic iptables/ebtables skip-accel action, simplify DPI support by reducing custom patches in SDK
• Simpler SDN Design: Dropped Open vSwitch bridge support and dual-bridge design, focusing on Linux SDN only
• Unified Management: Replaced Wireless Manager (WM) and Band Steering Manager (BM) with OneWiFi for seamless, combined control of WiFi functions
• 5G Uplink Support: Combined LTEM and CELLM into one manager, enabling 5G support and a more efficient codebase

Learn more about OpenSync 6.6 here.

Plume’s Principal Product Manager for Uprise, Tony Liebel, joined Doug Green on the Telecom Reseller podcast. They discussed the news of the first outdoor access point certified to work with Plume’s services, what the multi-resident real estate market needs from a WiFi product, and how Plume works with our partners to improve the quality of their services.

More from Telecom Reseller.

Plume’s Chief Legal & Privacy Officer, Shari Piré added expert guidance on Data Privacy Day and the 2025 theme of “Take control of your data.” In an industry roundup, “Tech Experts Reflect on Data Privacy Day 2025” she noted, “With roughly three billion devices connected to our cloud, we’re able to leverage the data we collect to delight our customers with the services they want and insights they need—while contemporaneously protecting that data.

Simply put, at Plume, we believe our customers should stay in control of their personal data—regardless of where they live. Plume’s desire to deliver the highest quality experience and put our customers in the driver’s seat with respect to the data they share with us, underscores our privacy program and supports our decision to adopt a ‘high-watermark’ approach to compliance. We think that this approach makes good business sense. Not only does it streamline compliance, it helps Plume protect our customers’ data.”

More from VMblog.

Opening of Aslam Selim Anatolian High School in Adiyaman, TurkeyIn 2023, #PlumeStrong pledged funds raised from the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge (#PSCC23) to help construct a new public school in the Adiyaman region of Turkey, an area devastated in the Turkey-Syria earthquake that occurred in February of that year.

We’re proud to share that the Aslam Selim Anatolian High School has now opened in Adiyaman, Turkey.

Plume’s General Manager of European Operations, Jasna Mihelj Coustaury, who has led the #PlumeStrong program, was in Adiyaman on January 14 to officially open the school and welcome the new students.

The school will accommodate 540 students and over 40 teachers in 16 classrooms, along with a library, science lab, and a computer lab with laptops donated by Plume. We are extremely grateful for the efforts and generosity of our #PSCC23 riders, partners, and donors – this would not have been possible without you. Thank you again!