To better protect consumers from hacking and cyberattacks, the United Kingdom has adopted a law which comes into force this Monday. It prohibits manufacturers from using weak, easy-to-guess default passwords.
“12345”, “admin”… Many Internet users choose passwords that are easy to remember so as not to forget them. Also used by manufacturers of smartphones, connected televisions and other devices, these are however easy for hackers to guess.
Faced with this danger, the United Kingdom has decided to act. The British government adopted a law entering into force this Monday, April 29 in the country. Aiming to better protect consumers against hacks and cyberattacks, it prohibits manufacturers “from using weak and easy-to-guess default passwords”, indicates the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology in a statement.
Safer connected devices
Manufacturers will also need to encourage users to change the password on startup if it is a common password. The UK is imposing such measures on them because it believes “businesses have a major role to play in protecting the public,” said Sarah Lyons, deputy director for economy and society at the National Cyber Security Centre.
This law comes into force when the majority of Britons own connected devices. British households own nine on average. Yet, according to a survey by Which?, a house full of connected devices is exposed to more than 12,000 hacks in a single week, with 2,684 attempts to guess weak default passwords across five devices.
The law also requires manufacturers to publish contact information so consumers can report bugs and problems. With merchants, they will also have to be transparent, informing customers about the minimum time during which they can install important security updates on their devices.
