You know that thing where you buy a new car and suddenly everyone else seems to be driving the same model? That’s how I am with Internet of Things (IoT) these days. Having had my interest peaked at OOW16, I’m suddenly noticing it getting mentioned everywhere, especially related to security. IoT+Security is now in the same position that Cloud+Security was a few years back. You can just hear the cries of “Won’t someone think of the children?”
We’ve spent years trying to encourage people to patch their PCs, servers and applications in an attempt to not be the next big attack vector, then along comes IoT and kind-of forgets all those lessons of the past (see here). This is common for any emerging tech. Let’s get it to work and worry about making it safe later!
The cheapness of IoT devices make them feel throwaway, so it’s a no-brainer to include them in everything. The problem comes when that throwaway tech is put inside something you plan on keeping for a few years, like a fridge, washing machine or internet-enabled underwear. 🙂 If security hasn’t been considered up front, is it going to end up being a problem long term? Either that, or am I going to have to “flash” my internet-enabled underwear on a regular basis to keep them safe? 🙂
I, for one, welcome our small internet-enabled overlords! But only if they come in peace! It will be interesting to see how thing goes…
Cheers
Tim…
PS. Cloud image taken at my nephew’s football match yesterday. Saucer from PixaBay. Bluring by SnagIt. Two minutes and I now have better “evidence” than most UFO videos on YouTube. Let’s see how long it takes for this to end up on one of them. 🙂