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US Senators To Introduce Bill To Secure 'Internet of Things' (reuters.com)
Dustin Volz, reporting for Reuters: A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday plans to introduce legislation seeking to address vulnerabilities in computing devices embedded in everyday objects -- known in the tech industry as the "internet of things" -- which experts have long warned poses a threat to global cyber security. The new bill would require vendors that provide internet-connected equipment to the U.S. government to ensure their products are patchable and conform to industry security standards. It would also prohibit vendors from supplying devices that have unchangeable passwords or possess known security vulnerabilities. Republicans Cory Gardner and Steve Daines and Democrats Mark Warner and Ron Wyden are sponsoring the legislation, which was drafted with input from technology experts at the Atlantic Council and Harvard University. A Senate aide who helped write the bill said that companion legislation in the House was expected soon.
It's more important to APPEAR that you're doing something, than it is to ACTUALLY do something.
How exactly do they propose to secure a marketing term? Cause that's all "Internet Of Things" is. It means absolutely nothing. While they're at it, why don't they also try to secure Big Data, The Cloud, and Web 2.0?
My question about "securing". Is this more to secure the device against the user wanting to do stuff with it (anti-jailbreak), or secure it against remote bad guys? I worry every time I see anything government based going into security, because I expect more DMCA type stuff, and not stuff that actually keeps the bad guys out.
The market will correct once the courts start permitting businesses and individuals to sue on the grounds of negligence. This remedied problems in the auto industry fairly quickly. If an automaker is liable for the safety errors in its vehicles, then software manufacturers should be liable for their shoddy programming.