Protecting connected devices – NETGEAR Armor and the US Cyber Trust Mark

The Federal Communications Committee, the agency in charge of regulating communications in the United States, has launched the US Cyber Trust Mark, a cybersecurity certification and labeling program. It aims to assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions by informing them of which devices meet national cybersecurity standards established by the US Department of Commerce.

The decision backs up Bitdefender and NETGEAR’s recent joint research on IoT Security, which clearly shows that cyberthreats against smart home devices have increased in tandem with the number of IoT devices in people’s homes.

Home networks see an average of 8 attacks every 24 hours – with smart TVs being the most vulnerable followed by: smart plugs, routers, DVRs, WIFI extenders, IP cameras, set-top boxes, media players, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices and home automation systems.

Furthermore, the new smart device labeling program validates our growing concerns about IoT device security and smart home safety.

In 2015, we were the first information security company to recognize the growing need for safer smart-home equipment, releasing the market’s first hardware solution to secure the connected smart home. Meanwhile, that technology evolved into NETGEAR ArmorTM powered by Bitdefender, our collaborative effort with NETGEAR to make connected devices more secure.

Simultaneously, we made it our mission to test various consumer smart devices for security flaws. Our main concern at the time was that smart devices could introduce new security risks into a consumer’s home. We were correct. Our research team discovered a variety of security and privacy issues that users and device manufacturers were unaware of after analyzing over 80 household IoT devices over the last seven years. Some of these flaws were so serious that attackers could gain complete control of extremely vulnerable devices in users’ homes, such as baby monitors.

The US Cyber Trust Mark arrives at the right time and will help users choose better when shopping for smart devices for their home; however, in the meantime, users can rely on NETGEAR Armor™ to completely secure and protect their connected devices.

In 2022 alone, Armor™ has blocked more than 100,000 attacks on the most vulnerable home devices. Most of these attacks rely on common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs). NETGEAR Armor™ protects you from these attacks by securing providing automatic blanket protection for all connected devices. Even if your device isn’t covered by the US cybersecurity certification program, NETGEAR Armor can automatically detect security threats and prevent them from affecting devices on your home network. Your Armor subscription comes with an anti-theft feature that lets you remotely track your device location and wipe out sensitive information in case it’s lost or stolen. It also provides a VPN for your mobile devices, protecting them even when they’re not connected to your home network. NETGEAR Armor is a one-stop solution for whole-home protection.