REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - EU countries and EU lawmakers on Thursday agreed to rules to protect laptops, fridges, mobile apps and smart devices connected to the internet from cyber threats following a spate of such attacks and ransom demands in recent years around the world.
It sets out cybersecurity requirements for the design, development, production and the sale of hardware and software products.
They must be more transparent on the security of hardware and software products for consumers and business users, and report cyber incidents to national authorities.
Importers and distributors will have to verify that products conform with EU rules.
The Commission has said the cybersecurity rules could save companies as much as 290 billion euros ($316 billion) annually versus compliance costs of about 29 billion euros.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Jose Luis Escriva, Foo Yun Chee, Josie Kao
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, European Commission, Manufacturers, EU, Thomson
Locations:
Rights BRUSSELS