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US Think Tank Wants IoT Device Design Regulated

posted by Fnord666 on Monday December 12 2016, @02:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the all-your-boink-detecting-mattresses-are-belong-to-us dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found an interesting story over at The Register about regulating the security of IoT devices:

Washington DC think tank the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology is calling for regulation on "negligence" in the design of internet-of-things (IoT) devices.

Researchers James Scott and Drew Spaniel point out in their report Rise of the Machines: The Dyn Attack Was Just a Practice Run [PDF] that IoT represents a threat that is only beginning to be understood.

The pair say the risk that regulation could stifle market-making IoT innovation (like the WiFi cheater-detection mattress) is outweighed by the need to stop feeding Shodan.

"National IoT regulation and economic incentives that mandate security-by-design are worthwhile as best practices, but regulation development faces the challenge of ... security-by-design without stifling innovation, and remaining actionable, implementable and binding," Scott and Spaniel say.

[...] State level regulation would be "disastrous" to markets and consumers alike.

Does the ability of a company to make money now outweigh the security of our digital homes and devices?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 12 2016, @04:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 12 2016, @04:26AM (#440215)

    I have a Lenovo Phablet. It shipped with Android 4.2.1, and is now running the most current version of Android. It has received regular updates during it's years of life, I'd say I get a major system update every 90 days or so.

    So not every manufacturer is this way. FYI the phone was bought at Walmart carrier unlocked for $250. I don't think Walmart ever realized it was a phone, it was just sitting over in the tablets section. I was shocked when I found it. I was in Walmart the other day. It's still for sale, $125 now, and it's still sitting in the tablets section. I asked a Walmart employee about it and he swears it's just a tablet that can make Wifi calls. I showed him mine, showed him it's dual sim LTE and he didn't know what to make of it.