We are often surprised by the passwords most used by users, given that they are often particularly simple and not very useful for protecting devices. However, there are contexts where the user’s “fault” only goes so far, which is why one country has already made weak passwords illegal in a certain area.
They are portals like 9to5Mac And The Record to report, at the end of April 2024, that The UK represents the first country to ban Default weak passwords for IoT devices. As you can imagine, the goal is to prevent “simple” cyber attacks from compromising the security of the products that make up people’s smart homes.
Essentially, therefore, stricter rules are being given to producers as regards the choice of default usernames and passwords, so as to avoid as much as possible in the future that malicious people can carry out massive attacks against this type of device (then perhaps using them for botnets, or networks of devices infected with malware exploited for malicious purposes without the knowledge of users).
Well, on April 29, 2024, the United Kingdom officially decided to ban the use of default usernames and passwords that could be “easily” guessed/findable by attackers. What continues to be permitted, however, are clearly the unique passwords per device, which guarantee an extra level of security.
What happens to those who do not comply with the news, linked to the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (PSTI)? The affected products may be subject to recalls and the respective manufacturers may have to pay a maximum fine of £10 million or 4% of global revenuedepending on which of the two values is higher.
In the meantime, we are discussing a similar novelty also for Europe, relating in this case to the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). However, in our area the first changes could arrive in 2027. In the meantime, the novelty of the United Kingdom certainly does not go unnoticed.
For the rest, you might like to consult the in-depth information on three reasons to keep your smart home offline.
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