Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

IoT Security

IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act Signed Into Law

On Friday, December 4, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 into law.

On Friday, December 4, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 into law.

Meant to ensure improved security for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the bill was initially introduced in 2017, but it did not make it very far at the time.

Reintroduced in 2019, the legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in September 2020, and passed the Senate in November 2020.

In addition to Reps. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and Will Hurd (R-Tex.), and Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo), the bill was backed by multiple tech companies, including BSA (The Software Alliance), Cloudflare, CTIA, Mozilla, Rapid7, Symantec, and Tenable.

The IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop and publish standards and guidelines on addressing issues related to the development, management, configuring, and patching of IoT devices.

Additionally, the law demands the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue recommendations based on the NIST guidelines for federal agencies, which are required to ensure that all IoT devices within their environments fully comply with these standards and guidelines.

The legislation also dictates that NIST develops and publishes guidelines for the reporting and disclosure of security vulnerabilities, including those in IoT devices used within federal agencies.

Furthermore, within the next two years, OMB will have to “develop and oversee the implementation of policies, principles, standards, or guidelines as may be necessary to address security vulnerabilities of information systems (including Internet of Things devices).”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Brad Ree, CTO of the ioXt Alliance, which describes itself as the global standard for IoT security, said the first national IoT security law in the U.S. is a “huge milestone for the industry.”

“As the world becomes more connected, it is great to see American leadership in the public and private sectors coming together to improve connected device security by setting the minimum security requirements for government purchased devices. Though this bill is targeted at government purchases, I fully expect network operators, consumer ecosystems, and retailers to follow with similar requirements for consumer products,” Ree told SecurityWeek.

Related: IoT Security Foundation Launches Vulnerability Reporting Platform

Related: Black Hat Wrap-Up: IoT and Hardware Vulnerabilities Take the Spotlight

Related: Mozilla, Others Want Big Retailers to Pledge Minimum IoT Security

Written By

Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Understand how to go beyond effectively communicating new security strategies and recommendations.

Register

Join us for an in depth exploration of the critical nature of software and vendor supply chain security issues with a focus on understanding how attacks against identity infrastructure come with major cascading effects.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Application Security

Cycode, a startup that provides solutions for protecting software source code, emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday with $4.6 million in seed funding.

CISO Strategy

SecurityWeek spoke with more than 300 cybersecurity experts to see what is bubbling beneath the surface, and examine how those evolving threats will present...

CISO Conversations

Joanna Burkey, CISO at HP, and Kevin Cross, CISO at Dell, discuss how the role of a CISO is different for a multinational corporation...

IoT Security

A group of seven security researchers have discovered numerous vulnerabilities in vehicles from 16 car makers, including bugs that allowed them to control car...

CISO Conversations

In this issue of CISO Conversations we talk to two CISOs about solving the CISO/CIO conflict by combining the roles under one person.

CISO Strategy

Security professionals understand the need for resilience in their company’s security posture, but often fail to build their own psychological resilience to stress.

Management & Strategy

SecurityWeek examines how a layoff-induced influx of experienced professionals into the job seeker market is affecting or might affect, the skills gap and recruitment...