IoT programmers can't be left to code the world, says Bruce Schneier

Cyber security guru says more government involvement is needed

Cyber security guru Bruce Schneier (pictured) has warned that programmers working in the Internet of Things arena need to be carefully regulated to ensure developments do not bring unforeseen risks.

"We need to start making more ethical and political decisions about how our technologies should work. But because the internet has been so benign [until now] we've allowed programmers to have this special light in society to code the world as they see fit," he said in a speech at Infosecurity Europe in London.

"I don't think we can do that anymore. I think this is becoming too critical to allow programmers to do what they want."

Schneier said governments should have more involvement in how the IoT is developed in order to reduce the potential for serious cyber attacks.

He warned that at some point IoT networks will grow so large and interconnected that even one cyber attack could be a catastrophe. So said governments must wake up to the danger and not let programmers, developers, technology companies and entrepreneurs create IoT devices and software without proper regulation and governance.

Schneier said government involvement in the development of the IoT is inevitable, but added that he feared it might take a potentially deadly incident to spur the authorities into action.

"Governments are going to get involved regardless because the risks are too great. When people start dying and properties start being destroyed governments are going to have to do something," he said, though he noted that currently governments lack the expertise to do this in a smart fashion.