This week, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Steve Daines, R-Montana, introduced the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019. It’s the second attempt by federal lawmakers to impose a cybersecurity standard for IoT devices purchased by the federal government.
In 2017, Warner, Gardner, Daines and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, had introduced a similar, but not identical, IoT measure. While the 2017 bill focused on IoT devices’ passwords and software updates, the leaner 2019 measure doesn’t make specific requirements, but instead requests cybersecurity recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
