The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has formed a new technology research and investigation office focused on protecting consumers from a rapidly changing technology world.

It follows various run-ins with Internet of Things companies. The FTC is worried that having dozens of connected devices could risk consumers information if one link is unsecure.

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Even though the FCC has been getting a lot of attention due to the net neutrality proposal, it's the FTC that usually defends consumers from poor business practices.

New technology breakthroughs like mobile payments, self-driving cars, and connected objects bring new issues for the FTC to look into. Apple recently got into trouble due to scams with its new mobile payments service, Apple Pay.

Self-driving cars will mostly be handled by the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) but the FTC could look into car networking to make sure the connection is secure.

Having a research lab will allow the FTC to not only monitor the changes in the technology world, but potentially attempt to hack networks and services to test security.

Some technology companies already pay hackers to try and break security barriers. Google holds events for hackers and pays them quite handsomely if they can surpass the barriers put in place.

It's a smart new way to detect any issues on the service, but the FTC might fall into regulation problems when it comes to attacking networking.

That said, the NSA has been doing this illegally without much opposition from technology companies, so perhaps the FTC can win over companies by taking the legal route.

TagsFTC, Tech Research, federal investigation, anti-trust