Disagreements in the US Senate subcommittee about cybersecurity IoT policy

The US Senate Subcommittee of Security held a hearing on 30 April to discuss the strengthening of the security of Internet of things (IoT). The industry witnesses were Vice President, Technology & Standards, Consumer Technology Association Michael Bergman; Vice President, Cybersecurity Policy, US Chamber of Commerce Matthew Eggers; Director of Public Policy, Rapid7 Harley Geiger; Senior Vice President for Cybersecurity, US Telecom and Broadband Association Robert Mayer, and Director, Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Dr Charles Romine. Most speakers were in favour of the current co-operation between the industry and the NIST, which focuses on creating voluntary baseline standards for IoT devices instead of federal or state regulations. Only Mr. Geiger, as well as, a few members of the committee argued that some governmental involvement might be needed in order to enforce these security standards.