Consumer Reports to Grade Products on Cybersecurity

The non-profit consumer ratings group Consumer Reports plans to evaluate cybersecurity and privacy when ranking products, Reuters says. It is currently working with organizations to create methodologies for doing this. An early draft of standards is available here.

This decision was made following a recent increase in cyberattacks on IoT devices, many of which contain vulnerabilities easily exploited by hackers. Researchers believe these attacks are unlikely to cease because manufacturers do not want to spend on securing connected products.

The draft prepared by Consumer Reports includes an analysis of built-in software security, amount of customer details collected, and whether all user data is deleted on account termination.

Jeff Joseph of the Consumer Technology Association describes this decision as positive but believes Consumer Reports "must be very clear about how they score products and the limitations of what consumers can expect."

The new grading methodology will gradually be introduced, says Consumer Reports.

Read Reuters for details.