New program aims to protect your home from hackers

Zach Myers
·2 min read

INDIANAPOLIS – The Federal Communications Commission is starting a new labeling program to help consumers make informed decisions about how vulnerable their home smart devices may be to hackers.

Whether it’s your thermostat, or your lights, or your garage door opener, anything you can control with your smartphone is connected to the internet, which means it’s a potential target for hackers.

That’s why the FCC voted to enact a new program called U.S. Cyber Trust Mark.

“Under the program, qualifying consumer smart products that meet robust cybersecurity standards will bear a label—including a new “U.S Cyber Trust Mark”—that will help consumers make informed purchasing decisions, differentiate trustworthy products in the marketplace, and create incentives for manufacturers to meet higher cybersecurity standards,” a statement from the FCC said.

How do you talk to your parents or grandparents about scams?

Here’s how the FCC describes the new program:

  • The U.S. Cyber Trust Mark logo will initially appear on wireless consumer IoT products that meet the program’s cybersecurity standards.

  • The logo will be accompanied by a QR code that consumers can scan for easy-to-understand details about the security of the product, such as the support period for the product and whether software patches and security updates are automatic.

  • The voluntary program will rely on public-private collaboration, with the FCC providing oversight and approved third-party label administrators managing activities such as evaluating product applications, authorizing use of the label, and consumer education.

  • Compliance testing will be handled by accredited labs.

  • Examples of eligible products may include home security cameras, voice-activated shopping devices, internet-connected appliances, fitness trackers, garage door openers, and baby monitors.

The key to this program is that it’s voluntary, so, if you see a product that has this label, you know that company takes cybersecurity seriously and they have subjected their device to lab testing to earn the trust mark. Otherwise, you’ll know a device hasn’t gone through that testing.

Regulators hope to start having these labels on devices before the end of this year.

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