CE Pro January/February 2024 - 35

U.S. CYBER TRUST
MARK COULD BOOST
PROTECTIVE MEASURES
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed
the Cyber Trust Mark, which should be implemented sometime
in 2024.
The voluntary program, first announced in summer 2023,
is essentially the cybersecurity equivalent of the ENERGY
STAR label. The program aims to certify that consumer IoT
devices meet certain cybersecurity standards as outlined
by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Many in the custom integration industry have signaled
their general support for the measure, including manufacturers
such as Crestron, Snap One, Samsung, LG and many
others.
In addition, CEDIA has officially supported the proposal,
calling for the program to consider the role of integrators.
In comments written by Darren Reaman, director of
government affairs for CEDIA, the organization advocates
for the importance of integrators, saying they are the " best
solution " for mitigating security risks in IoT systems.
Reaman highlights the growth in IoT and research suggesting
that consumers are becoming overwhelmed with
the amount of devices on their network.
" In-home integrators that professionally install IoT
As smart home networks become more complex,
cybersecurity protections become more important and
manufacturers need to address this shift.
While it either hasn't happened
in the smart home
space or isn't being made
public, an easy comparison
to draw is to managed
service providers in the IT
industry who are routinely
targets of cyberattacks
since they hold the keys to
a large amount of enterprise
networks.
The same goes for
technology management
software. In one of the most
high-profile cases of a cyber
intrusion, IT management
cepro.com
software firm SolarWinds
had their software compromised
in an update, leading
to the intrusion of several
U.S. agencies and large
technology firms by Russian
hackers.
Educating Clients on
Potential Risks
According to Bjorn Jensen,
owner of network specialist
WhyReboot, as the custom
integration industry became
more connected and dealers
began deploying devices
devices are key in the mitigation of security risks in any
consumer's technology systems and this mitigation is not
limited to just IoT devices, " CEDIA states. " When designing,
installing, and maintaining technology systems through
the home, the homeowner is best protected from security
threats by working with qualified integrators throughout
the project and the life of the system. "
on the network for remote
management capabilities,
homeowners began having
poor experiences with their
consumer-grade networking
equipment, typically
provided from their Internet
service provider.
" Little by little, people
have had [terrible] experiences,
and they found out it
was due to their network, "
Jensen says.
With enterprise-grade
networking equipment options
more available to integrators
now, selling cybersecurity
services like gateways,
sandboxing, content filtering,
anti-malware and intrusion
prevention should follow.
However, many homeowners
aren't demanding it, and
integrators aren't offering it,
Jensen notes.
Part of that is due to education,
as the custom home
integration market typically
isn't very proficient in commercial-grade
IT networking
and security principles.
" I think a lot of integraJanuary/February
2024 CE Pro | 35
EMERALD/CEDIA EXPO
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CE Pro January/February 2024

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