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A Federal Trade Commission attempt to rein in a poorly secured IoT device is raising questions over whether the U.S. regulator has the power to crack down on vendors suspected of shoddy practices.
On Thursday, the FTC filed a complaint against Taiwanese manufacturer D-Link Systems that charged the company's internet routers and web cameras can easily be hacked, putting consumers at risk.
But the FTC's complaint doesn't cite evidence that the products have been breached, only the potential for harm to consumers.
That's among the reasons D-Link is contesting the complaint. "Notably, the complaint does not allege any breach of a D-Link Systems device," it said in a statement.
"Instead, the FTC speculates that consumers were placed 'at risk' to be hacked, but fails to allege, as it must, that actual consumers suffered," the company said.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @09:30PM
> Should the FTC be able to take action against the vendor of a toaster that is known to burn down people's homes?
No, but if the item is FCC marked then the consumer should be able to sue.
> When I buy an appliance device (eg, smart tv, router, light bulb) I don't expect it to get hacked and participate in a botnet.
If it's FCC stamped it shouldn't burn your house down. But FCC tests vs electrical faults and noise and drop-ability.
The issue is that there's no FCC-like group for software/firmware/hardware security. And there can't really be; the FCC tests against eg. overvoltage. How are you going to standardize a test set for appliances with digital inputs and outputs?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @11:14PM
What the fuck does the FCC have to do with any of this?