The rise of the cyber insurance has largely failed to promote better cybersecurity practices among the industries they cover, according to a new report released Monday from British security think tank RUSI. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The security community for the last few years pointed to great potential for cyber insurance to drive progress in cyber best practices: force companies to up their game by making certain standards a requirement for coverage.

But recent research shows thats not happening.

The rise of the cyber insurance has largely failed to promote better cybersecurity practices among the industries they cover, according to a new report released Monday from the British security think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). This is particularly true for the scourge of ransomware, where rising payments and business incentives to pay may pose an existential threat insurance providers in Great Britain and beyond.

Although ransomware is a societal problem, the authors note that cyber insurers are facing some heat for the role they play in financially propping up the cyber-criminal industry.

These add fuel to the fire by incentivizing cybercriminals engagement in ransomware operations and enabling existing operators to invest in and expand their capabilities, write authors Jamie MacColl, Jason R.C. Nurse and James Sullivan. Growing losses from ransomware attacks haveemphasized that the current reality is not sustainable for insurers either.

When a company is hit with ransomware, theyre often faced with three choices: pay up, lean on backups or rebuild the entire IT network. Since insurers usually opt to cover the cheapest option, paying an upfront ransom almost always ends up costing less than starting from scratch or incurring weeks of downtime while systems are restored from backups.

While this model and approach seemingly make business sense to insurers, it ends up putting an absurd amount of money into the pockets of criminal groups. These groups then have more resources to further develop their malware and infrastructure, offer better compensation to entice talented hackers to join their network and buy zero-day exploits or initial access to victim companies.

In February, a report from Chainalysis, which tracks cryptocurrency payments in law enforcement investigations, estimated that these groups took home at least $350 million in ransom payments in 2020, and experts say that many incidents are not publicly reported, because the victim has decided to quietly pay before their information is advertised online and not engage with law enforcement.

Several high-profile incidents in recent months underscored the challenges faced in this area. The U.S. government was initially unable to get information around ransom payment from executives at Colonial Pipeline, and some were outraged when CEO Joseph Blount in a media interview appeared to cast paying the $4.3 million ransom (which Blount later said the company submitted an insurance claim for) as the right thing to do and a patriotic duty to keep vital American infrastructure running. A ransomware attack on insurance giant CNA in March also resulted in a $40 million payment that is believed to be the largest ransom payment to date on record, according to Bloomberg.

The RUSI report, part of a year-long project with the University of Kent studying ways to incentivize better cybersecurity through insurance, finds little hard evidence that indicate this model is forcing companies to reevaluate their own cybersecurity practices and investments. It also warns the current model of making regular large ransom payments will not financially benefit insurers over the long term.

While some of the carriers interviewed for the report touted their pre and post-incident services like forensic analysis, incident response, legal services and public relations as valuable services that help lift a victim organization to a higher, more secure plane of cybersecurity that prevents future attacks, theres only scant, scattered evidence that this is actually happening in some places.

In fact, many companies that buy cyber insurance tend to view it as a tool for resilience against cyber attacks rather than a risk mitigation tool. Research by threat intelligence firm Cybereason in June claimed that an eye-popping 80% of companies that paid the ransom wound up getting infected by ransomware again in the following months, often by the same group.

One example of a favorable impact cited by the authors: claims by U.S. insurance provider Corvus that their scanning for ports and vulnerabilities commonly exploited by ransomware groups resulted in a 65% drop in ransomware-related claims from April to September 2020.

These insurers can do more to sharpen the kind of data they collect, push industry to adopt security standards set by government organizations like the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology and rate different cyber security products for their value and impact on premium costs.

There is a solid body of theoretical arguments that cyber insurance could play a meaningful role in improving cyber security among businesses, as referenced in a previous RUSI Emerging Insights paper, the report argues. However, in practice, it is still yet to be seen if cyber insurance can fulfil this promise.

While the paper is geared towards the UK insurance market, the challenges and potential solutions outlined share many parallels with that of the U.S. market, where a ransomware epidemic has forced policymakers to elevate the issue and consider a number of previously extreme solutions, like banning ransom payments, heavily regulating the cryptocurrencies used to pay and directing law enforcement and intelligence agencies to increasingly target the IT infrastructure that these groups rely on to carry out their schemes.

The findings echo similar claims made in a U.S. Government Accountability Office report on cyber insurance in May, which found that the industry on the whole lacked the kind of historical data around data breaches and their effective mitigations to properly price their coverage, though some providers of cyber insurance interviewed by SC Media disputed the conclusions at the time.

If you ever go to a restaurant and felt like having a nice lobster dinner, you probably saw the menu say market priced, because who knows how many lobsters they caught that day, or that time a month or that year? The pricing is really variable in what lobsters cost on a day-to-day basis, it can fluctuate wildly, said John Pescatore, director of emerging security trends at the SANS Institute, in May. Thats sort of what the case is [today] for cyber insurance, its essentially market price.

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Scant evidence that cyber insurance boom is leading to better security SC Magazine - SC Magazine

The advice was reportedly posted to an internal workplace board by Facebook's security team

Facebook is reportedly telling employees not to sport the company logo in public, after the social media site last week suspended President Donald Trump's account and began taking tougher action against the phrase "stop the steal," which has been used by Trump and his supporters to push false claims of voter fraud.

"In light of recent events, and to err on the side of caution, global security is encouraging everyone to avoid wearing or carrying Facebook-branded items at this time," Facebook told employees in an internal memo reviewed by The Information. The memo was reportedly posted to an internal workplace board by Facebook's security team.

After a deadly riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, Facebook locked Trump's accounts over concerns the president's remarks could incite more violence before or afterJoe Biden's inauguration as the next US president on Jan. 20. Twitter, Snapchat and other platforms have also taken action against Trump's social media accounts. The FBI and Capitol Police have reportedly warned thatarmed protestsare being planned across the US and in the US Capitol in the lead up to the inauguration.

Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stay in the know. Get the latest tech stories from CNET News every weekday.

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Facebook reportedly tells employees to avoid wearing company logo in public - CNET

Designed toreplace an existing exterior door,themyQPet Portal comes integrated in a select offering of Kolbe doors with material and color options to fitpet parents'home aesthetics and is professionally installed.Seamlessly integrated within the door, a hidden smart panel features a patent-pending smart, elevator styleopening mechanism that works with a custom collar sensor.Unlike conventional retrofit pet doors, the myQ Pet Portal is virtually unnoticeable from the outside, ensuring that visitors, passersby and pesky squirrels won't realize it's there. It is the only no-compromise solution for homeowners who want to keep the security and exterior appearance of their home intact while providing their pup with the freedom to potty and play on demand.

Already making waves at CES, the myQ Pet Portal won the distinguished CES 2021 Best of Innovation Award within the Smart Home category. "A bright spot for many people in a challenging 2020 has been adding a furry friend to the family. But as COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift in 2021 many dogs will experience a dramatic change in their routine," said Beril Altiner, Director of Product Marketing for Chamberlain Group (CGI), a global leader in access control solutions and developer of myQ smart technology. "The myQ Pet Portal can help alleviate some of the stress and expenses that might come along as schedules change. It's a secure and convenient way to make sure your dog can go outside when they need to, while also giving you access to your best friend anytime through your smartphone."

Designed with home security, pet safety and a wide range of dog sizes in mind,the myQ Pet Portal works for dogs as small as 10 lbs. up to 90 lbs. and includes safety sensors to ensure safe passage. Where traditionalretrofitdog doors can leave your home exposed to the elements, pesky critters, andotherunwantedguests, the Pet Portalhas beenintentionally designedwith the following features to give pet parents peace of mind:

"What sets the myQ Pet Portal apart from other dog doors on the market is the fact that it offers convenience, safety, and security all in one solution," said Brittany McArdell, a professional dog trainer and owner of North Paws Canine Services. CGI enlisted Brittany's services to ensure the Pet Portal was a safe and viable solution for pet parents and their dogs. "It definitely provides a smarter way to parent and makes time apart easier for both dogs and their owners," Brittany added.

Retailing for less than half of what many pet owners spend annually on a dogwalker, the professionally installed myQ Pet Portal is now available for pre-order on myQpetportal.com starting at $2,999. For more information on the myQ Pet Portal go to myQ.com/CES/pet-portal.

About Chamberlain Group (CGI)CGI is a global leader in access control solutions with its LiftMaster and Chamberlain garage door opener brands and myQ smart technology. Providing the power of access and knowledge, CGI's broad line of state-of-the-art residential and commercial access solutions are designed to fit any lifestyle or application, providing the latest technology and innovations in safety, security and convenience. For more information visit chamberlaingroup.com. Follow us on Facebook at ChamberlainGroupCGI, LinkedIn at Chamberlain_Grp(CGI) and Twitter at Chamberlain_Grp.

About myQ Smart Access:myQ technology enables products to seamlessly work together to provide reliable, secure access management solutions that solve for everyday access needs across common entry points to homes, communities, businesses and beyond. It's a powerful platform that empowers people, businesses and partners with the knowledge to do more and the control to make it happen, anytime from anywhere.

About Kolbe Doors:Kolbe Windows & Doors is one of the nation's leading manufacturers of one-of-a-kind windows and doors. After more than 75 years, Kolbe products are best known for superior quality, custom craftsmanship, and attention to detail. Kolbe's door expertise and culture of innovation make them the perfect partner for the myQ Pet Portal. Kolbe recognized the industry's need for pet door solutions and partnering with Chamberlain Group (CGI) was an exciting way to bring this new product offering to pet lovers.

For media inquiries, contact: CGIKelly Shumaker 630-267-1652 [emailprotected]

SOURCE myQ

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myQ Smart Access Technology Gives 'The Dog House' a New Meaning with its Award-Winning Pet Portal - PRNewswire

"As a longtime musician and songwriter, I've spent countless hours in recording studios and have a great respect and appreciation for good audio." shares Tula Founder and CEO David Brown. "I've long dreamt of designing a microphone that would bring high-quality sound to the masses. With the rapid growth of podcasting and YouTube channels and the more recent shift to remote working, it feels like the timing couldn't be better for a product like the Tula Mic."

Breakthrough Sound Capturing ExperienceThe Tula Mic is packed with standout audio features. It includes dedicated cardioid and omnidirectional ECM capsules, top of the line Burr Brown op amps, a Texas Instruments audio codec, and a 3.5mm headphone jack that doubles as an input for a lavalier microphone.

Tula teamed up with well-known Swedish music software company Klevgrand to create an embedded version of their cutting-edge noise reduction algorithm, Brusfri. With just the touch of a button, users can reduce backgroundnoise in an elegant, natural way without unwanted artifacts.

The Tula features 8GB of internal memory as well as ample battery life, enabling up to 14 hours of audio recording on the go. The Tula records in high-quality wav file format.

Additional features include:

Nostalgic Yet Chic DesignThe Tula Mic boasts aneye-catching design a true combination of modern and nostalgic esthetics. Developed with the help of Red Dot Award-winning industrial designers in Barcelona, the Tula's form factor features an exact Golden ratio and is a combination of hard angles and soft curves.The Tula is available in three colors: classic black, vintage cream, and a vibrant red.

Pricing and AvailabilityThe Tula Mic is available to order starting today for $199 (US) from tulamics.com

About TulaFounded by audio industry innovator David Brown-- the mind behind the heralded Soyuz Microphones brand-- Tula Microphones is a hardware and software company dedicated to creating the world's most user-friendly sound-capturing devices. The Tula Mic, Tula Microphones' flagship product, was launched on September 22, 2020 on Indiegogo.

ContactMaria LarrazabalP: 786.897.3259[emailprotected] [emailprotected]

SOURCE Tula Microphones

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Tula Mic: The new era of portable, high-quality sound is here, and everyone's invited to experience it - PRNewswire

If you're worried about home security then you may want to check out the Linksys Aware service, as the company will be using it to turn your entire smart home into a motion sensor.

Starting early this year, Linksys will be pushing out an update to its Linksys Aware service that will utilize its mesh router system to transform other smart home products into motion sensors to detect movement.

Linksys Aware already sort of offers this by utilizing the the mesh router access points for the same purpose. But this upcoming new update expands on this by utilizing other smart home devices. Which afford numerous benefits over Linksys Aware in its current state.

According to Linksys the update that strengthens its Aware service will begin in March and carry over into April.

So it'll still be a couple of months before users should expect to see these changes take place. Once the update goes live, Linksys Aware will connect to any other smart home products to utilize those as additional access points for motion sensing.

Those devices will of course need to be stationary. So Linksys Aware won't be connecting to your Roomba as it cleans your floors. But if you have Echo speakers or Nest Hubs lying around, or any combination of smart bulbs, thermostats, coffee makers and more, these can act as more points of coverage along with the mesh routers.

This will make it much easier to detect any movement in the home as there should be less dead spots. And it'll likely help with more accurate detection as well.

Much like yesterday's announcement from NETGEAR, Linksys is releasing new routers with the key component being that it supports WiFi 6E.

More than that though is this is a new mesh router system with this technology. Called the AXE8400, this new mesh system is a series of tri-band routers. They offer 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands for connection.

In addition they also offer four 1Gbps ethernet ports on the back. And since this is a mesh system you can link multiple access points together and even use it with the new Linksys Aware update.

Linksys plans to launch the new AXE8400 routers in late Spring and early Summer of this year. One router will start at $449.99. So the routers aren't cheap. If you need more coverage, a two-pack will be available for $849.99, or a three-pack will be available for $1,199.99.

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Linksys Is Turning Your Whole Smart Home Into A Motion Sensor - Android Headlines

In4Research has added a new research report on Home Security System Market. The study aims to provide a roadmap of the Home Security System industry which makes up for the scope of product, market revenue cycle, new opportunities, CAGR, sales volumes, and figures. The market analysts who authored this report have provided detailed information about key growth drivers, restraints, challenges, trends, and opportunities to offer a comprehensive analysis of the Home Security System Market. Market players can use this analysis of market dynamics to plan effective growth strategies and prepare in advance for future challenges.

The Home Security System study report additionally provides analysis on the market share for significant stakeholders in their global capacity as transformers of the overall scale. This qualitative and quantitative analysis will contain key product offerings, crucial differentiators, revenue share, market size, market status, and strategies of top leading players. The report will additionally cover key agreements, associations, and global partnerships soon to change the dynamics of the market on a global scale.

Get Exclusive Sample of the Report on Home Security System market is available at https://www.in4research.com/sample-request/1129

Competitive Landscape Covered in Home Security System Market Report:

The competitive landscape is a critical aspect that every key player needs to be understood. The report highlights on the competitive scenario of the Home Security System market for knowing the competition at the national and global levels. The market experts also gave an overview of all the top players in the Home Security System market, considering important aspects such as business areas, production, and product portfolio. Additionally, the companies are examined in the report based on key factors such as company size, market share, market growth, revenue, production volume, and profit.

The Home Security System Market Report Covers Major Players:

Any Questions/Queries or need help? Speak with our analyst https://www.in4research.com/speak-to-analyst/1129

Home Security System Market Segmentation:

The global market for Home Security System is set to find a segmentation in the report that would be based on type, and application. These segments have a better acceptance of various factors that can be taken into consideration to understand how the market can chart the future path.

Home Security System Market Breakdown based on Product Type

Home Security System Market Breakdown based on Application

Home Security System Consumption Breakdown Data by Region

For more Customization, Connect with us at https://www.in4research.com/customization/1129

Major Points in Table of Content of Home Security System Market

Chapter 1. Research Objective

1.1 Objective, Definition & Scope

1.2 Methodology

1.2.1 Primary Research

1.2.2 Secondary Research

1.2.3 Market Forecast Estimation & Approach

1.2.4 Assumptions & Assessments

1.3 Insights and Growth Relevancy Mapping

1.3.1 FABRIC Platform

1.4 Data mining & efficiency

Chapter 2. Executive Summary

2.1 Home Security System Market Overview

2.2 Interconnectivity & Related markets

2.3 Ecosystem Map

2.4 Home Security System Market Business Segmentation

2.5 Home Security System Market Geographic Segmentation

2.6 Competition Outlook

2.7 Key Statistics

Chapter 3. Strategic Analysis

3.1 Home Security System Market Revenue Opportunities

3.2 Cost Optimization

3.3 Covid19 aftermath Analyst view

3.4 Home Security System Market Digital Transformation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

4.1 DROC

4.1.1 Drivers

4.1.2 Restraints

4.1.3 Opportunities

4.1.4 Challenges

And more

Chapter 5. Segmentation & Statistics

5.1 Segmentation Overview

5.2 Demand Forecast & Market Sizing

Chapter 6. Market Use case studies

Chapter 7. KOL Recommendations

Chapter 8. Investment Landscape

8.1 Home Security System Market Investment Analysis

8.2 Market M&A

8.3 Market Fund Raise & Other activity

Chapter 9. Home Security System Market Competitive Intelligence

9.1 Company Positioning Analysis

9.1.1 Positioning By Revenue

9.1.2 Positioning By Business Score

9.1.3 Legacy Positioning

9.2 Competitive Strategy Analysis

9.2.1 Organic Strategies

9.2.2 Inorganic Strategies

Chapter 10. Company Profiles

Chapter 11. Appendix

To Buy Full Report, Connect with us at: https://www.in4research.com/buy-now/1129

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Home Security System Market Growth Forecast Analysis by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application to 2026 - SoccerNurds

Going virtual for a big show like CES 2021 was certainly an experience unlike any other, but for the smart home, the focus was on exactly what we expected cleanliness, touchless experiences, keeping the home organized, and security. While CES 2021 didnt have as many established smart home brands in attendance, there were still plenty of cool gadgets announced that aim to make the home more connected than ever. Our smart home team here at Digital Trends debated and subsequently voted on the best smart home tech at CES 2021, and heres what we selected.

Our pick for the best smart home tech of CES 2021 is the Samsung Jetbot 90 AI+. More than just your ordinary robot vacuum, its smarter when it comes to avoiding pesky clutter that can trip up other bots. It can also acts as a security watchdog when youre out.

This tank-like robot vacuum not only has 30 watts of suction power courtesy of its Jet Cyclone system to ensure floors are clear of dirt and debris, but features an automatic disposal system that empties the contents of its dustbin into its Clean Station base. That means fewer physical disposals on your part.

Its built-in camera and A.I.-enhanced object-recognition technology allows the Samsung Jetbot 90 AI+ to detect objects in its cleaning path and avoid them. Cables, pet bowls, and other clutter wont trip up this bot. Lastly, the integrated camera can be accessed remotely through a mobile app, giving users eyes on whats happening at home if theyre away. For Samsung, its a tremendous effort given its previous robot vacuums.

Read more about the Samsung Jetbot 90 AI+

There have been several connected home gym fitness displays to come along over the past year, but the NordicTrack Vault is one to watch because of how much of a gym experience it packs into one piece of equipment. Introduced at CES 2021, the NordicTrack Vault may appear similar to the Mirror by Lululemon, but it distinguishes itself in that it tucks away all the dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands to give you that complete gym workout at home.

With its mirrored finish, youll be able to look at yourself during workouts to make sure you have proper form while also receiving instructions from the instructors on its 32-inch rotating smart HD touchscreen. The design discreetly stows away the handful of accessories that come with it, like the kettlebells and yoga blocks.

As more people jump on this trend of exercising from home, the Vault is a practical solution that will help keep them fit through strength and cardio workouts powered by iFit.

Read more about the NordicTrack Vault

Few smart locks were announced at this years show, with many of them being previous models that received minor changes. One of the few thats brand new is the Lockly Duo, a smart lock perfect for people who have two locks to unlock on their front door the deadbolt and knob locks. The Lockly Duo is a 2-in-1 deadbolt and knob solution that can lock and unlock your door with one quick twist of the handle, while packing all the features we expect from a top-notch smart lock, including fingerprint unlock, PIN Genie tech, remote unlock via the app, and much more.

Read more about the Lockly Duo

Do you enjoy frozen yogurt? Then youll love the ColdSnap, which takes the Keurig style of making coffee at home, but rather than dispensing coffee, serves up your favorite frosty desserts. Its simple and easy to use, relying on disposable pods to whip up frozen yogurt, ice cream, smoothies, and much more all in about two minutes!

Read more about the ColdSnap

Taking a page out of Pixars animated film Up, the Petpuls is a smart dog collared powered by artificial intelligence that aims to determine how your four-legged friend is feeling. Based on the pitch and tone of their barks, Petpuls utilizes voice-recognition technology to inform you if your dog is happy, anxious, angry, sad, or relaxed.

Read more about the Petpuls

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The best smart home tech of CES 2021 - Digital Trends

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ApexEdge, a partner-enablement platform that offers monthly bill and subscription management solutions to support the financial health of consumers, announced today its integration with Payrailz, a digital payments company offering smarter, more engaging payment experiences to banks and credit unions across the United States. Payrailz will leverage the ApexEdge active intelligence platform to deliver Billsharks bill negotiation services to credit unions and banks across the nation, supporting members and customers financial wellness journey by generating savings on their behalf.

According to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, almost 80 percent of consumers report living paycheck to paycheck, and many are being overcharged for monthly service bills like mobile, internet, satellite and streaming services and home security. Due to this problem, the integration provides an opportunity for credit unions to enhance the member experience by offering meaningful cost savings to their membership bases. By integrating with the ApexEdge active intelligence platform, Payrailz bank branded native user experience presents financial institution users with a convenient, targeted call to action to reduce their average bills by hundreds of dollars annually without changing the provider or service.

The ability to proactively help members lower their bills is crucial for our clients, and even more so for our credit union clients. This value-added service shows members that their credit union cares, said Kavita Singh, VP of AI Product Management at Payrailz. Doing the hard work of lowering bills for members helps credit unions demonstrate their value, ultimately strengthening member relationships.

The partnership has allowed Payrailz financial institution clients to further enhance their relationships and increase member and customer savings. In fact, Bill Schirmer, President & CEO of Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union explained, By working with Payrailz and now having access to the bill negotiation services, we can help our members reduce the cost of their monthly bills without having to spend the time or effort on actually negotiating their own bills. Now, we can do it for them which will save our members hundreds annually and, ultimately, improve their overall financial health.

Credit unions are hyper focused on the quality of member service and few initiatives resonate more positively with members than the ability to help them save money on recurring monthly bills and improve their financial wellness over time, said Michael Whitt, Head of Partnerships at ApexEdge. Payrailz is an industry leader in defining the digital member experience and the integration of our solutions further positions credit unions as innovative partners in their members financial lives.

About Payrailz

Payrailz is a digital payments company offering advanced payment capabilities and experiences including consumer and business bill pay, external and internal transfers, new account funding, P2P, B2B, B2C, and other related solutions to banks and credit unions. In a society that increasingly has become focused on a do it for me culture, Payrailz smart technology makes the difference. Payrailz creates smarter payment experiences for the financial services industry that are predictive and more engaging than currently available alternatives. Financial institutions can confidently embrace Payrailz API-first and cloud-native technology engine, to offer unique payment solutions to their consumers and businesses. Payrailz helps financial institutions meet the payment expectations of today and the payment innovation needs of tomorrow. For more information, visit payrailz.com, follow them on Twitter @Payrailz, Facebook or LinkedIn, or contact Mickey Goldwasser at 860.430.9245.

About Billshark

Powered by the ApexEdge active intelligence platform, Billshark is the industry leader by volume, savings and ratings in the emerging bill reduction space. Backed by Mark Cuban, Billshark empowers consumers by saving millions of dollars through mobile, internet, phone, TV, home security and other monthly services bills negotiation plus canceling unwanted monthly subscriptions. With thousands of reviews, Billshark has a 4.9 Google rating! Visit http://www.billshark.com or contact laura.beaulieu@billshark.com.

About ApexEdge

The ApexEdge active intelligence platform powers financial institutions, PFMs, fintechs, and other innovators as they deliver subscription and bill management to customers. By transforming insights into action, our concierge enablement solutions deepen relationships with meaningful, personalized conversations and real results. Customers save money and reduce stress. Partners grow from just advisors to indispensable advocates engendering loyalty plus new revenue. ApexEdge enables a direct to consumer innovations lab, Billshark, and is configurable for integrations ranging from simple affiliate to complete white label. Visit http://www.apexedge.com.

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ApexEdge Integrates with Payrailz to Help Credit Union Members and Bank Customers Save Money on Everyday Bills - Business Wire

Not so long ago, the internet of things (IoT) was considered a futuristic technology to support the factories and cities of tomorrow. Today, many of us regularly experience the IoT in our homes and daily lives. Its present in AI-powered virtual assistants like Alexa that help us manage our day, check account balances, control appliances or even prepare dinner. We see the IoT in action in home security cameras, smart lighting, heating and cooling, doors and locking systems and much more. In just a few years, the IoT has taken giant strides in helping consumers take advantage of convenience, better efficiency, cost savings and improved home safety.

Theres no doubt that the IoT has come of age and its capabilities will further blossom as 5G technology matures. But as with any technology, rapid innovation also brings new risks. The same qualities that make IoT devices so fast, simple and lightweight can also introduce security vulnerabilities. A recent survey revealed that cyberattacks jumped by 300% in 2019thats over 2.9 billion events. For the IoT to reach its full potential, consumers need to know that their devices and the networks they connect to will remain fully secure.

Standards-based interoperability is key because this strong level of security must extend all across their IoT environments and applications. People expect their connected devices to behave in a plug and play fashion, providing compatibility, security and ease of use for non-technical users.

Although ensuring basic connectivity between endpoint devices and the many virtual assistants they connect to would seem to be a basic necessity, many consumers have encountered issues getting their devices to work together effectively. While interoperability and security standards exist, there are none in place that provide consumers the assurance their smart home device will seamlessly and securely connect. To respond to consumer concerns, Project Connected Home over IP (Project CHIP) was launched in December 2019.

Initiated by Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance, this working group focuses on developing and promoting a standard for interoperability that emphasizes security. The project aims to enable communication across mobile apps, smart home devices and cloud services, defining a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. The goal is not only to improve compatibility but to ensure that all data is collected and managed safely. Dozens of smart home manufacturers, chip manufacturers and security experts are participating in the project.

Since security is one of the key pillars of the groups objectives, DigiCert was invited to provide security recommendations to help ensure devices are properly authenticated and communication is handled confidentially. DigiCert is working with the participants of Project CHIP to ensure the design and architecture of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and use of digital certificates is sound, with the appropriate root hierarchy and governing documents.

Project CHIPs goal is to develop draft standards and open source implementation details late this year. Ultimately, the project is expected to simplify deployment for manufacturers. At the same time, consumers will gain peace of mind in knowing that their home devices will interoperate securely with any other device that complies with the standard. The days of worrying whether smart home hubs and networks will match their devices will soon be over.

Project CHIP not only represents a compelling step forward in driving the adoption of home IoT solutions, but it is also an example of the power of industry leadership and effective collaboration.

The lessons of the Project CHIP initiative could easily apply to other IoT applications and industries that require stringent security and compliance. For example, healthcare manufacturers could establish a common security standard to ensure that particular types of medical devices such as IV pumps, home monitoring devices or insulin pumps meet a particular security standard. In manufacturing environments, automotive companies could ensure that factory floor robots and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are running smoothly and safely, without fear of leaving the enterprise IP network vulnerable to hackers, viruses and other threats.

In the case of Project CHIP, the industry took ownership of the issue and moved to solve it without waiting for a stick from regulators. Although some level of regulation is necessary for any industry, developing these regulations and enforcing compliance can also take valuable time and resources from manufacturerswhile slowing their ability to innovate and get solutions to market. All too often, regulations force the industry to be reactive, not proactive.

The success of Project CHIP is an example of whats possible when industry leaders maintain close contact with their consumers and step up and lead. By employing a similar approach to addressing industrywide issues such as security, companies across a wide variety of industries can position themselves to realize faster time to market.

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Manufacturers Take the Initiative in Home IoT Security - Security Boulevard

[author: Jackie Odum]

On December 11, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) and the Arkansas Attorney General (AG)announcedthat theyfiled acomplaintandproposed stipulated judgmentin the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against a home-security company.The complaint alleges that the companywhich provided credit to customers for its products and servicesviolated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and Regulation V.

The CFPB and Arkansas AG allege that the home-security company charged higher activation fees for customers with lower credit scores, and in doing so, failed to provide customers with the requisite risk-based pricing notice under FCRA and Regulation V.

If entered by the court, the proposed stipulated judgment will require the home-security company to pay a $600,000 civil money penalty.The judgment would further require the home-security company to provide proper notice to affected customers and periodically report notice compliance to the Bureau.

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CFPB and Arkansas AG Settle with Home Security Company for Alleged FCRA and CFPA Violations - JD Supra