The Internet of things (IoT), trends and security

Hello my friends, today I bring you a post about the Internet of Things or IoT. Maybe this term is unknown to some, but believe me, you’ve seen it in movies and even cartoons and it is very likely that it will be part of our daily life in the near future.

Let's start with the definitions:

What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?

To put it simply, the IoT is the interconnection usually through the Internet between devices of daily use and that previously had no connection or these connections were local or private. Among these devices we currently have security cameras, alarms, motion sensors, but it also goes beyond and includes equipment such as refrigerators, alarm clocks, air conditioners and even cars. Every day there are more devices that have an Internet connection and make them controllable remotely either by themselves or as part of a set of devices that create an intelligent system.

An example could be a smart refrigerator, which could measure the amount of food we have and determine if we need to buy something, to remind us to make the purchase or even to the point that she makes it for us, all without user intervention.

Let's take a look at this video that illustrates what a home can become with an intelligent system:

Interesting, isn’t it?

Other interesting devices are like the Google Home or the Amazon Echo which act as a voice command center to control all the compatible devices that are connected in the home network and at the same time, they work as "personal assistants" to which you can ask them daily questions, about your day activities and a lot of other functions.

Now that we know what the IoT means and we saw a small example of what it can be, let's look at another aspect of this growing trend.

Smart devices and security

As we saw in the video, all the devices shown are connected to the Internet and are controlled by the user from an app on his mobile phone. While all this is convenient, there is a problem, the hackers, yes, they always ruin all the fun.

The FBI in the United States has alerted parents about this type of devices so that they are aware of the possible dangers they pose to the privacy and physical safety of children, especially equipment with integrated GPS, cameras and microphones, since if they were breached, they would allow an offender to know the location of the child and, depending on the equipment, to communicate with him. Scary, isn't?

Let’s take the example of the smart refrigerator. This device, could place orders to the supermarkets and pay for purchases, this means that it would have access to the bank account, then, there is another reason to worry, if a hacker, managed to penetrate the operation of this refrigerator, could get access to our accounts and from there, the sky is the limit, well, the sky or the available balance.

Now imagine that this hacker managed to control all our smart home, he could literally do whatever he wants, from spying on us to waiting until we go to enter and rob us, or anything.

In October 2017 the Norwegian Consumer Council conducted an investigation and determined that some "smart watches" had serious vulnerabilities that would allow access to hackers, also they stored or transmitted important user data without any encryption, which could allow the information to be captured and reviewed by other people beside the end user.

The worst thing about this is that companies that are making more and more smart equipment, are not taking security into account and are only focused on creating devices and add as many features as possible.

So what do we do?

But the fact is that, although this type of technology has its risks, with a little common sense and good advice, you could enjoy the modernity and convenience that this type of equipment brings, I mean, who would not like to come home from a tired day of work and have your coffee ready, the hot tub ready, the dinner in the oven and the TV with your favorite program tuned. Or am I dreaming too much?

I hope you enjoyed this post and I would appreciate your "upvote" and leave me a comment on anything regarding the post.

Have a great week!