How to Keep IoT from Becoming an IoTrash

The Threat of Abandoned IoT Devices

In a world where technology and software are intertwined with our daily lives more than ever, a silent threat grows in the shadows.

Botnet Exploitation of EOL Hardware

End-of-life devices—abandoned by manufacturers - power our homes, hospitals, businesses and critical infrastructure. From the depths of the cyber underground, malicious software from cybercriminal and nation-state actors is seizing these forgotten devices and conscripting them into botnets and other malicious infrastructure.

Enshittification and the Right to Repair

For example, Black Lotus Labs revealed a chilling trend: 40,000 small office home office (SOHO) routers compromised and enrolled in the sinister 'Faceless' botnet - now powered by devices you own and thought were safe.

Policy Initiatives and Community Action

And it's not just routers. Critical medical devices, essential security hardware—smart home appliances. No gadget is safe. And, with the Internet of Things set to double in the next decade, billions of vulnerable devices marketed and sold to connect us risk robbing, dividing and defeating us in the years to come: a process one expert has termed “enshittification.”

After years of warnings from the cybersecurity community, alarms are finally sounding in the halls of power. But more is needed: a clarion call to reset, to redefine ownership and security in an age of smart, connected devices before it's too late.

In this panel you’ll be enlisted to join the fight. You’ll hear from experts working at the forefront of a fight to challenge the status quo and seek solutions to safeguard our digital futures.Are you ready to stand up for your right to a secure, connected world? The battle for control, for transparency- for a sustainable and resilient digital future begins now!