From: Lexology
Laura E. Jehl, Dave Thomas, Alexander W. Major and Deepali Brahmbhatt | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
On April 6, 2016, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a federal notice to request public comment on the benefits, challenges, and potential roles for the government in fostering the advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT). (RFC at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fr_rfc_iot_04062016.pdf).
Comments are due on May 23, 2016.
NTIA defines IoT broadly to include connection of physical objects, infrastructure, and environments to various identifiers, sensors, networks, and/or computing capability – in essence, any device that gets data and sends instructions to devices and components over the Internet. IoT technology includes your refrigerator, a light bulb (or a light bulb in your refrigerator) if it is connected to the Internet. Until now, it has often seemed as though the focus of IoT product and application development is to provide basic connectivity without addressing any security concerns. Establishing even minimal security, it was thought, was but an unnecessary cost that degrades device performance to boot. But not surprisingly, this approach makes IoT devices more vulnerable to attacks – for example, by permitting a hacker to access sensitive user information by entering a user’s home system through an unsecure IoT device. An unsecure IoT device can provide a gateway by which a hacker can gain significant access to sensitive user information held by an unsuspecting consumer who simply wants his smart phone to control his ceiling fan.
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