The Government has published a joint statement of intent from the Agile Nations Working Group on Cyber Security for Consumer Connected Products, i.e. the “Internet of Things” (IoT), in which the UK, Canada and Singapore say that they are “united in our belief that connected products offer tremendous economic and social benefits, and that appropriate cyber security requirements must be built into these products from the design stage, rather than placing this burden on consumers”.

According to the joint statement, to protect consumers across the globe requires coordinated efforts from like-minded governments, academia, and civil society. The three governments of the UK, Canada and Singapore are working together to promote and support the development of international standards and industry guidance, to foster innovation, and to encourage approaches that incorporate internationally recognised security requirements and avoid fragmentation. The countries say that through this global alignment “we can reduce duplication of testing and similar assessments and the challenge for industry of needing to apply to multiple schemes underpinned by identical or very similar requirements”.

The three countries also endorse the emerging baseline security requirements for IoT products and encourage international recognition and alignment with them. All three countries are “united in our view that international standards can facilitate strong security practices and we encourage the adoption of international standards to mitigate these cyber risks”. The countries commit to continue working closely together and to promote global alignment on best practices, encouraging the recognition of aligned schemes to reduce unnecessary barriers to trade and industry. To read the joint statement in full, click here.