Singapore has become the latest country to follow the same cybersecurity protections as Britain following a new agreement between the countries at Singapore International Cyber Week.

The UK government said the countries will work together to deliver protections for both sets of citizens.

As part of this agreement, the UK government said devices which meet Singapore cybersecurity standards for devices will now be protected under the UK’s own Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regime.

The government claims this was the first piece of legislation anywhere in the world to introduce minimum cybersecurity requirements for consumer devices such as smartphones, games consoles and smart doorbells.

The PSTI regime now includes everything from the banning of default passwords commonly used, like “admin” or “12345”, to greater transparency over how long devices will receive vital software updates for.

The government said that this will not only create a shared baseline to protect consumers but cut excessive red tape to get safe and secure products in their hands faster than ever.

A range of countries are now using the standard used by the UK’s PSTI Regime to inform their own approaches to securing consumer devices including Brunei, Finland and the Republic of Korea.

Earlier this week, Australia became the latest country to follow the UK standards, setting out a voluntary code of practice for app stores and developers.

This has been designed to closely mirror the UK’s own Code of Practice for App Store operators and app developers, giving industry consistent steps to make apps secure and include better reporting of software vulnerabilities to developers.

“Cyber threats are a shared challenge so seeing more and more countries following the example we’ve set in the UK to protect consumers will mean they’re better protected and also give certainty to developers with a single baseline to build to, fewer retests, and clear rules on updates and reporting,” said cybersecurity minister Liz Lloyd. “This is about safer products for people, clearer rules for business and less duplication across borders.

“By moving in step with allies and setting clear standards at home, we are backing business, securing our economy and keeping people safer online to build a better Britain for all.”

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