The Biden-Harris administration announced a new cybersecurity program aimed at helping consumers more easily pick safer smart devices.
The US Cyber Trust Mark program is a voluntary cybersecurity labeling service that several major tech giants, trade associates, and major retailers have already agreed to follow. If a smart device passes the set security threshold, it will have the Trust Mark blue shield logo, signaling it’s safe.
On top of logos, all sorts of smart devices, from phones to tablets, refrigerators, TVs, fitness trackers, and more, will have QR codes that take consumers to a national registry of certified devices, containing details that will help people understand the risks associated with each model of the device they’re looking at.
“This new labeling program would help provide Americans with greater assurances about the cybersecurity of the products they use and rely on in their everyday lives,” says the report from the White House. “It would also be beneficial for businesses, as it would help differentiate trustworthy products in the marketplace.”
Google, Amazon, Samsung, LG Electronics, Cisco Systems, Best Buy, and more have already signed onto the plan. Trade associates like the Consumer Trade Association are also on board.
“This collaborative approach extends to the development of globally recognized standards that shape how we use and rely on technology devices,” explains Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Technology Association in a recent statement.
Regulators are also looking to define cybersecurity requirements for routers due to how dangerous having your router hacked can be. These requirements are expected to be fleshed out by the end of 2023.
This collaborative effort comes in the middle of the Biden-Harris administration’s larger overall push to increase the country’s cybersecurity in lieu of steep spikes in cybercrime and global cybersecurity incidents like the MOVEit hack.
“When we can agree on a common goal, a private-public partnership approach works best,” says Shapiro.