On March 25th SRFF hosted a live, virtual event: “Tech Time Bombs: Fixing the Cyber Risks of EOL Hardware.” Moderated by SRFF President Paul F. Roberts, the conversation featured Chris Wysopal, Chief Security Evangelist at Veracode and Stacey Higginbotham of Consumer Reports.
The conversation was about the problem of the growing number of smart, Internet-connected devices that are being arbitrarily declared “end of life” (EOL) and abandoned by manufacturers, who pull software support, cease security updates and shut down cloud servers that support core functions.
Among other things, the conversation addresses the massive cyber implications of EOL devices and the urgent need for new laws and regulations that protect consumers and set standards for manufacturers on software support, security updates and data protection.
We also talk about the need for new laws and regulations to address the problem, such as model legislation SRFF introduced along with Consumer Reports, US PIRG and the Center for Democracy and Technology in March.
Check out the video of our conversation here. And, if you want to support our efforts to pass consumer protection laws designed to force manufacturers to disclose intended software support to consumers, check out our new campaign and make a donation using the button below.