Reader Forum: FCC tells IoT vendors to implement cybersecurity or face potential regulation

In its recently released “Cybersecurity Risk Reduction White Paper,” the Federal Communications Commission expressed serious concerns about the “burgeoning and insecure [internet of things]market [that]exacerbates cybersecurity investment shortfalls [because]the private sector may not have sufficient incentives to invest in cybersecurity beyond their own corporate interests.” Noting that insecure wireless devices have shut down service to millions of users by attacking critical control utilities that are not FCC-regulated, the FCC is advocating “cyber accountability” – a combination of market-based incentives and regulatory oversight – to reduce cyberrisk in the communications sector.