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Trends in Security Information
The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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IoT security challenge: future-proof legislation
5.4 FUTURE-PROOF LEGISLATION
Legislative policy solutions should be sufficiently flexible to deal with societal needs as well as constantly evolving technologies. Regulatory measures for IoT security should make use of inputs from consumers as well as industry representatives on the rights and responsibilities of consumers and vendors. This would help to ensure that the approach taken is effective in the present and fit for the future, and promotes innovation in an efficient way. The introduction of highly stringent measures and legislation by regulators could, counterproductively, prove restrictive for security research; it may be more effective to instead create initiatives to stimulate the development of security by the industry. Besides cybersecurity regulations, liability laws can also effectively drive IoT security; the section on Responsible Industry discusses this point.
5.4.1 Current Landscape and Recent Developments
There are only a few legislative efforts aimed at IoT security; we describe these below. It is noted that IoT security is differently organised in different countries, so not every cybersecurity agency is tasked with the same roles and responsibilities. While many industry organisations globally collaborate on a voluntary basis, we found a dearth of initiatives where governments work together for secure IoT.
U.S. IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017
For years, cybersecurity experts have asked the US government to improve cybersecurity hygiene and use its buying power to push through new security standards.146 The IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act (see https:// www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1691/ text?format=txt) is a bill mandating minimal cybersecurity operational standards for Internet-connected devices purchased by U.S. Federal agencies. This can be a way to raise the bar across the industry more easily than larger, more direct legal measures. Government-purchased IoT devices would need to: – Be free of known security vulnerabilities, as defined in the NIST National Vulnerability Database147. – Have software or firmware components that accept “properly authenticated and trusted” patches from the vendor. – Use non-deprecated, industry-standard protocols for communication, encryption, and interconnection with other devices or peripherals. – Not include any “fixed or hard-coded” credentials (that is, passwords) used for remote administration, delivery of updates, or communications. – Have notification and disclosure methods in place for discovered security vulnerabilities. – Be patched or replaced to fix any vulnerability in a timely and secure manner. The legislation would also require American agencies to establish and maintain inventories of IoT devices and update them every 30 days.
U.S. SMART IoT Act
The State of Modern Application, Research, and Trends of IoT Act or SMART IoT Act directs the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct a study on the state of IoT in the United States.
California Senate Bill
California's SB 327 law148, approved in September 2018 and due to take effect in January 2020, requires all "connected devices" to have a "reasonable security feature." Security experts point out that the law is wellintentioned and while it may not actually solve the problems that plague IoT security, it is nevertheless widely considered a good start.149,150
Privacy regulations
From 2018 onwards, IoT stakeholders, including those in the supply chain, must be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and with similar privacy laws such as PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act) in Singapore. The complex mesh of stakeholders involved asks for/implies the necessity of a precise allocation of legal responsibilities among them regarding the processing of the individual’s personal data, based on the specificities of their respective interventions.
EU Cybersecurity Act
In December 2018, the European Union passed the Cybersecurity Act151 to reinforce the mandate of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, (ENISA) to better support Member States with tackling cybersecurity threats and attacks. As referenced in the previous section, the Act also establishes an EU framework for cybersecurity certification, boosting the cybersecurity of online services and consumer devices. Certification is voluntary unless future EU legislation prescribes an EU certificate as a mandatory requirement to satisfy a specific security need.
Common Position on Cybersecurity in Connected Devices
The Common Position paper152 by Infineon, NXP, STMicroelectronics and ENISA proposes some key priorities for the European Commission (EC), but these priorities are globally applicable: – Define baseline requirements for security and privacy that minimise risk, are neutral in technological terms, and remain open to innovation. – Introduce a Trust Label, based on various security levels and a related risk assessment. – Ensure that reliable security processes and services are developed and support industry in implementing security features in products (e.g. through providing information and training on state-of-the art security solutions). – Encourage the development of mandatory staged requirements for IoT security and privacy. – Create an equal level playing field for cybersecurity and look into incentives to reward the use of good security practices.
NIS Directive
The Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive) was adopted by the European Parliament on 6 July 2016153 and entered into force in August 2016 . The NIS Directive provides legal measures to boost the overall level of cybersecurity in the EU by ensuring – Member States' preparedness by requiring them to be appropriately equipped, e.g. via a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) and a competent national NIS authority. – cooperation among all the Member States, by setting up a cooperation group, in order to support and facilitate strategic cooperation and the exchange of information among Member States. – a culture of security across sectors that are vital for the economy and society, such as energy, transport, water, banking, financial market infrastructures, healthcare and digital infrastructure. Businesses in these sectors that are identified by Member States as operators of essential services are required to take appropriate security measures and notify serious incidents to the relevant national authority.
5.4.2 Key Findings
– Although there are numerous industry initiatives and best practices in this area, their adoption is voluntary. IoT security legislation is in its infancy and virtually nonexistent outside the US and EU.
– Enforcing procurement by governments of secure IoT devices can contribute towards IoT security when large countries participate; smaller economies such as Singapore and the Netherlands can work together for greater impact. The EU’s single digital market approach can support IoT security as well.