EOL... RLY? Ending The Epidemic of Bricked and Abandoned Stuff

Saturday, July 13, 2024: 4:00 pm (Marillac Auditorium): As the Internet of Things ages, a gap has emerged between the useful life of connected hardware devices (measured in decades) and the manufacturer-imposed "support lifespans" of the same product...

Saturday, July 13, 2024: 4:00 pm (Marillac Auditorium): As the Internet of Things ages, a gap has emerged between the useful life of connected hardware devices (measured in decades) and the manufacturer-imposed "support lifespans" of the same products (measured in years). The result: useful and functioning devices - from laptops to smart home appliances to heavy equipment - are reaching an OEM-imposed "end of life" and being abandoned or even bricked by their makers. Businesses, consumers, communities, and our planet are left holding the bag: forced to choose between hosting vulnerable and unpatchable "EOL" devices within their environment, or sending perfectly functioning hardware to the landfill and spending to replace an otherwise functional device. In the meantime, malicious actors are rejoicing at a vulnerable population of hundreds of millions of EOL devices they can exploit and leverage in attacks via IoT botnets, such as those leveraged by cybercriminals and nation-state actors like the Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) Volt Typhoon.

In this panel discussion, leading experts from the cybersecurity and repair community will dig into the growing phenomenon of "bricked and abandoned" devices - everything from toothbrushes and streaming devices to robot vacuum cleaners. The panel will talk about what's driving the phenomenon of "abandonware" and about possible solutions - both market and policy based - to the problem that will help us build a secure and resilient future for the Internet of Things.

Paul Roberts
Lodrina Cherne
John Bumstead
Lucas Gutterman