UK government ups security protection for IoT devices

IoT-connected devices will need to ensure they measure up to basic security standards under new rules being proposed by the UK government. Guidelines revealed today will mean that manufacturers will need to make smart devices such as TVs, routers and even children's toys conform to a new 'Secure By Design' protocol. Products will soon need to carry a security label informing users how secure their IoT devices are, and warn about possible hacking risks. The scheme will be voluntary to begin with, but ultimately will widen to become mandatory, with non-conforming companies facing fines or even bans. The labels will need to communicate three basic security rules, including that device passwords will need to be unique and not resettable to any universal factory setting. Manufacturers will also need to provide a public point of contact as part of a vulnerability disclosure policy, and will have to explicitly state the minimum length of time for which the device will receive security updates through an end of life policy.