Gânduri Eclectice – Eclectic Thoughts

As we get older, life gets generally both more complex and (it sometimes feels) less exciting.

On 2024-04-29, NCSC published this item Smart devices: new law helps citizens to choose secure products. The thinking behind this is entirely reasonable; Internet-connected smart devices should have some basic level of default security, and some defined level & period of support made clear to consumers. The long-term benefits are clear, and may slow the growth of the mountains of e-waste a little whilst keeping home networks a little more secure.

However, as ever with legislation, unexpected consequences often follow. A colleague received this reply to an enquiry about a connectivity issue with their washing machine:

I am sorry to read of your connectivity issues. 
 
As of 29th April 2024, due to a change of legislation in the UK the product you have is no longer able to be supported on the Wizard/Simplyfi platform, the other functionality of the machine remains unaffected so you can only use the appliance manually.

Additionally, the app is closed to new enrolments. Unfortunately, there has not been an alternative put in place for this, so you will no longer be able to use the connectivity features on your appliance.   
 
If your appliance is still currently connected, you will still have access to the apps features & receive security updates for at least the next 2 years, however if this is removed for any reason – including updating your WIFI details - you will lose your connectivity features. 
 
If you would like more information about the recent change in legislation, you can view them by clicking on the following link

And a link to the NCSC article.

OK, so it’s not actually “bricked” per se, but then again, who really believes (or believed) that the hamster was actually consumed back in 1986?

The unfortunate user has been offered a small credit as a gesture of good will, which is better than nothing I guess.

I suspect we will see some more of this sort of thing before the real benefits of the legislation flow through in the fullness of time.