The Cyber Resilience Act to address the safety of smart homes

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According to the latest APPLiA Statistical Report, the number of users of smart appliances in the EU is expected to match the population of Australia by 2024. As highlighted by APPLiA, connected devices are here to stay. All the data and information produced by the interactions that occur every day between us and our smart applications, are a critical part of it. Securing them against any potential threat is fundamental. The European Commission unveiled its Cyber Resilience Act which aims to address market needs and protect consumers from insecure products through the introduction of common cybersecurity rules. Acting as a ‘one-stop shop’ for digital devices, “the implementation of a centralised legal reference point would make it easier for manufacturers to abide by, avoiding repetition and conflict of regulations”, explained Paolo Falcioni, APPLiA Director General, shedding light on the importance for white goods manufacturers to have one, single, legal reference for product regulation on cybersecurity. “High cybersecurity standards have a key role to play in creating a robust EU cybersecurity system for all economic operators, to guarantee EU citizens safe usage of all products”, outlined APPLiA’s DG. While legislation provides the essential requirements, common specifications, via implementing acts, should be utilised as a ‘plan B’, determined by EN Standards. As highlighted by APPLiA, while the industry stresses the importance of standardisation as the optimal route to ensuring user safety, common specifications create a viable alternative to address cybersecurity issues on a product-by-product basis, but should only be triggered if a traditional standard-making process fails. Overall, the establishment of common standards that apply across the whole of the EU Single Market benefits all actors. An underdeveloped ecosystem, with a fragmentation of legislations and standards which do not reflect the ever-growing cybersecurity risk of products, could drastically fall short on the security side for European consumers. “The safety of our homes can no longer be viewed in only the physical sense”, Falcioni stressed.