UK Government Wants to Improve Consumer IoT Security

The UK government has announced a £400,000 development program to tackle the security of the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, helping organizations implement proper cybersecurity measures before the products arrive on the market.

Cybersecurity is one of the most significant issues of IoT devices, compounded by the lack of standards governing the industry. Many companies don’t invest nearly enough in IoT security, preferring to release their devices quickly onto the market, while others don’t offer enough support after the launch.

The number of IoT devices is expected to reach 420.3 billion by 2024, which means that more and more devices are likely to arrive in our homes and industrial settings. One way to deal with that is to provide a common platform for development and security, which the UK government is trying to achieve with the “Grant Programme for Consumer IoT Assurance Schemes 2020/21.”

The program, supported by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has a clear goal: supporting the development of industry-led assurance schemes for consumer IoT security.

“Product assurance schemes play an important role within the cybersecurity of ‘smart’ devices,” the agency says. “Typically, they provide consumers with an assurance label or kitemark that demonstrates that the product has undergone independent testing or a robust and accredited self-assessment process.”

“In a sector where consumers overwhelmingly assume that devices are secure because they are for sale, these assurance schemes are vital in enabling consumers to make security-conscious purchasing decisions,” it added.

If or when such an assurance scheme is developed, users should be able to identify safer IoT devices easier because they will likely sport some kind of label, marking the fact that they’ve been tested before the market release. It’s a common practice in other industries, but it will take some time to become more widespread for IoT devices.