Standards are essential for ensuring that technologies are safe and interoperable. As policymakers contemplate their role in this critical effort, CSDE has released this new primer, introducing key concepts and ideas.

This 2021 Supplement to CSDE’s original 2019 C2 Consensus Baseline, which has been remarkably influential in the development of regional and international standards, reaffirms the primary guidance in the original document and provides an update on activities since the first publication. In particular, the 2021 Supplement discusses the status of items on the 2019 document’s “roadmap”, which addresses Future Secure Capabilities, and updates mappings listed in the annex.

As policymakers across the globe contemplate diverse regulatory and policy approaches to secure the Internet of Things – which may include legislation, certification and labeling, or other requirements – CSDE offers these principles, endorsed by 27 leading technology and security organizations, to inform governments about constructive paths to raise the market’s expectations for security and advance policy harmonization.

CSDE’s International Botnet and IoT Security Guide  is among the world’s leading initiatives to dramatically reduce destructive botnet attacks. Since 2018, we have brought together communications and technology sector leadership on an annual basis to identify practices and capabilities for combating threats related to botnets, such as malware propagation, denial-of-service attacks, and the spread of corrosive disinformation.

In recent years, policymakers throughout the world have recognized the need for international cooperation and coordination to address the growing epidemic of cyber-attacks, particularly those that can rise to the level of a catastrophe. CSDE conducted a survey of member companies to identify 12 catastrophic scenarios that can threaten global security and lay foundations for coordinated responses by leading ICT companies.

CSDE’s convening of the conveners — or C2 — has brought together trade associations, standards development organizations, industry alliances and coalitions to develop the broadest and most technically deep industry consensus on IoT security worldwide. Collectively, the C2 participants represent thousands of companies and many different segments of the global digital economy, leveraging input from hundreds of security professionals.