Calling all tech innovators!
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $25,000 contest to boost the security of household connected devices.
The competition “challenges the public to create a technical solution (“tool”) that consumers can use to guard against security vulnerabilities in software found on the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in their homes,” according to the details of the IoT Home Inspector Challenge detailed on the FTC website.
The tool should help protect folks from security threats, at a minimum.
“Contestants have the option of adding features, such as those that would address hard-coded, factory default or easy-to-guess passwords,” according to the announcement.
As our homes have gotten “smarter” thanks to internet connected devices that do everything from operate appliances to manage home security, we’ve also seen the potential security risks that come along. Case in point, the October hacking event of IoT devices that caused a widespread internet disruption.
“We’re asking innovators to come up with a tech solution to the security vulnerabilities caused when IoT household products are running out-of-date software. Perhaps it’s a physical device people could add to their home networks that would install security updates for other devices on that network. Or it could be an app, cloud-based service, or dashboard. Or maybe it’s something entirely different that you’ve been noodling through for some time now,” according to the press release published regarding the competition.
The contest registration forms will be available on the FTC website beginning March 1, when more details will be provided as well regarding the submission process. The deadline for registering and submitting entries is May 22, 2017 at Noon EDT. Winners will be announced on or around July 27, 2017.
Five experts in the technology sector will judge the contest according to the FTC site, including:
- Georgia Weldman, the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Shevirah Inc. She is a penetration tester, security researcher, speaker, trainer, and author. The prize for the competition is up to $25,000, with $3,000 available for each honorable mention winner(s).
- L. Jean Camp, a Professor at the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University. She joined Indiana after eight years at Harvard’s Kennedy School where her courses were also listed in Harvard Law, Harvard Business, and the Engineering Systems Division of MIT.
- Tadayoshi Kohno, the Short-Dooley Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, with adjunct appointments in the Department of Electrical Engineering and the School of Information.
- David Wollman, the Deputy Director of the Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Wollman is expanding NIST’s coordination and research activities in cyber-physical systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT), including through the NIST CPS Public Working Group and development of the NIST CPS Framework.
- Dan Klinedinst, a vulnerability researcher at Carnegie Mellon University’s CERT Coordination Center. His work includes performing vulnerability analysis of government and critical infrastructure assets.
For more information about IoT security, the FTC has put together advice for “businesses about building security into products connected to the Internet of Things, including proper authentication, reasonable security measures, and carefully considered default settings.”
Learn what makes key security experts nervous about the Internet of Things, and what they warned Congress about back in November 2016.
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