Internet of Things: The Revolution Has Begun
“The truth is, homes change over time — and technology has to adapt, not try to do everything at once.” — Tony Fadell, Founder & CEO, Nest Labs
Introduction
The Internet of Things (“IoT”) refers to the ability of everyday objects to connect to the Internet and to send and receive data. It includes, for example, Internet-connected cameras that allow you to post pictures online with a single click; home automation systems that turn on your front porch light when you leave work; and bracelets that share with your friends how far you have biked or run during the day.
The IoT has three inherent qualities:
- Things — Any connected device that is capable of generating data, whether it is a sensor, video camera, smartphone, medical device or any other device.
- Connectivity — The physical medium — wireless or wired networks, Bluetooth, software-defined networks — connecting devices to each other and to an IoT platform.
- Platforms — The cloud or on-premise software applications that help you manage, configure and capture data from connected devices.
Examples of IoT abound and are increasingly becoming familiar conveniences in our daily lives: wearables, home automation and security systems and other smart devices. But the Internet of Things has proven to be more than consumer-driven applications.
History of IoT
The main concept of a network of smart devices was discussed as early as 1982, with a modified Coca-Cola vending machine at Carnegie Mellon University becoming the first Internet-connected appliance, able to report its inventory and whether newly loaded drinks were cold or not.
What’s IoT used for
Connected devices. Sprawling networks. Massive amounts of data. In a nutshell, that’s the Internet of Things. And there have never been more things in the ever-expanding IoT ecosystem. From smart cities and cars to smart stethoscopes and dog collars, the world is becoming more interconnected every day.
“What the Internet of Things is really about is information technology that can gather its own information,” British tech pioneer Kevin Ashton said a few years ago. “Often what it does with that information is not tell a human being something, it [just] does something.”
Top Internet-of-Things (IoT) Examples to Know
- Connected appliances
- Smart home security systems
- Autonomous farming equipment
- Wearable health monitors
- Smart factory equipment
- Wireless inventory trackers
- Ultra-high speed wireless internet
- Biometric cybersecurity scanners
- Shipping container and logistics tracking
Security
Security is the biggest concern in adopting Internet of things technology, with concerns that rapid development is happening without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved and the regulatory changes that might be necessary.
Most of the technical security concerns are similar to those of conventional servers, workstations and smartphones. These concerns include using weak authentication, forgetting to change default credentials, unencrypted messages sent between devices, SQL injections, and poor handling of security updates. However, many IoT devices have severe operational limitations on the computational power available to them. These constraints often make them unable to directly use basic security measures such as implementing firewalls or using strong cryptosystems to encrypt their communications with other devices— and the low price and consumer focus of many devices makes a robust security patching system uncommon.
Internet of Things devices also have access to new areas of data, and can often control physical devices, so that even by 2014 it was possible to say that many Internet-connected appliances could already “spy on people in their own homes” including televisions, kitchen appliances, cameras, and thermostats. Computer-controlled devices in automobiles such as brakes, engine, locks, hood and trunk releases, horn, heat, and dashboard have been shown to be vulnerable to attackers who have access to the on-board network. In some cases, vehicle computer systems are Internet-connected, allowing them to be exploited remotely. By 2008 security researchers had shown the ability to remotely control pacemakers without authority. Later hackers demonstrated remote control of insulin pumps and implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
Poorly secured Internet-accessible IoT devices can also be subverted to attack others. In 2016, a distributed denial of service attack powered by Internet of things devices running the Mirai malware took down a DNS provider and major web sites. The Mirai Botnet had infected roughly 65,000 IoT devices within the first 20 hours. Eventually the infections increased to around 200,000 to 300,000 infections. Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam made up of 41.5% of the infections. The Mirai Botnet had singled out specific IoT devices that consisted of DVRs, IP cameras, routers and printers. Top vendors that contained the most infected devices were identified as Dahua, Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, ZyXEL and MikroTik. In May 2017, Junade Ali, a Computer Scientist at Cloudflare noted that native DDoS vulnerabilities exist in IoT devices due to a poor implementation of the Publish–subscribe pattern. These sorts of attacks have caused security experts to view IoT as a real threat to Internet services.
Conclusion
Internet of Things (IoT) is somehow a leading path to the smart world with ubiquitous computing and networking to ease different tasks around users and provide other tasks, such as easy monitoring of different phenomena surrounding us.
