Zen and the Art of IoT: How to Boost Security and Usability

How to Truly Secure Internet of Things Devices? ETSI's Alex Leadbeater Weighs In Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) • December 31, 2025

Building a secure Internet of Things continues to face hurdles, despite solutions being well-known and achievable.

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So said Alex Leadbeater, chair of European Telecommunications Standards Institute's Technical Committee Cyber. ETSI maintains European Standard 303 645, a global standard published in 2020 that establishes a cybersecurity baseline for consumer IoT devices.

Among the specifications: avoid default passwords, provide secure software updates and maintain a coordinated vulnerability disclosure program for researchers, followed by those bugs getting patched and fixes pushed to customers.

"Frankly, the ability to keep software updated would have pretty much eliminated the majority of IoT vulnerabilities in the market" anytime over the past decade, if it was being done, Leadbeater said.

Progress is being made, with ...