Smart Home: EU launches security certificate for networked devices

Connected household appliances and services should be made safer through uniform European standards. Negotiators from the EU Commission, the EU Member States and the European Parliament agreed on a night of Tuesday on a framework for a corresponding certificate that should apply to products and services across the EU.

Consumers should therefore be better informed about how safe products are in the "Internet of Things", in which more and more devices are connected to the Internet and to each other. Manufacturers would need to provide detailed information on the IT security of their products and how long they would provide security updates, Parliament said.

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For companies, the certificate, which will be the responsibility of the EU Cybersecurity Agency in Greece, means that they no longer have to pay for multiple tests in different countries.

The certification remains voluntary. Whether or not it should become mandatory in certain areas will now be examined by the EU Commission. The agreement on the night of Tuesday still has to be formally confirmed by the parliament and the EU states and comes into force a few weeks later.