The Internet of Things (IoT) is the concept of a global connected network of devices, not necessarily just computers. It’s basically baking internet connected computers into all of the other technology that we use: cars, refrigerators, printers, AC units, and a myriad of other things. Like much of technology, the possibilities of the IoT are super exciting, but with the excitement comes some fear and reservations.
The benefits of the IoT are really cool. The ability to control just about everything in your house from your phone is obviously very useful. Forgot to lock the doors? Use your phone. Want to preheat the oven? Use your phone. It’s going to show up in all different industries too. Keeping track of your grandmother’s vitals and sending them to the doctor in real time or keeping data on medication usage as well are just some of many ways in which the medical sector could be revolutionized by the IoT.
So Things seem pretty good right? Well, an entire network of newly connected devices has security implications on a huge scale. Cars being hacked and driven off the side of the interstate or webcams inside someone’s house being spied on are very bad things. They’re also things that haven’t been addressed in the past. Up until now, car manufacturers needed to make sure people can’t physically get into the car. And software developers needed to make sure the data being sent across a network is secure. Now there’s this middle-ground that nobody was responsible for before now. Somebody needs to make sure things are secure. The problem is that right now, nobody is really being blamed when thousands of printers or DVRs are hacked and used in ways other than how they were intended to. Obviously, the hackers are punished if they’re caught, but the manufacturers are unscathed.
For now, I think that companies need to publish potential weaknesses at the very least. If they’re going to connect devices to the internet in insecure ways, their users should at least be aware of the risk they’re taking. At this point, I think that cyber attacks on the IoT are honestly a good thing. Security breeches are one of the only ways that security is going to be taken seriously and improved. Function develops out of necessity, and the more attacks that happen, the more people are going to pay attention to the security of these devices. As of now, customers don’t care about the security of the devices, so the companies don’t care either. Eventually, after enough attacks, companies are going to start to lose business or be punished by the government. Once this starts to happen, security will become a top priority.
I think the IoT will add to the role of technology of being disruptive in almost every industry. Uber is a big example of what the IoT can do. Manufacturers of just about everything are going to have to invest in technology, because it’s going to be commonplace for everything to be connected. I think in 5 or 10 years, people aren’t going to want to buy anything that they can’t control from their phone in some way or another. There’s surely going to be legislation about it. Things like the Wiretap Act or the Stored Communications Act were never relevant before the Internet. In the same way, laws are going to be enacted to deal with IoT stuff that hasn’t been dealt with before. Government is going to have to get involved. It’s unclear how involved the government will be, but there will have to be some sort of intervention eventually.
As for a world of connected devices, it is a little bit scary. Privacy will continue to decrease. There will be greater security risks, but the world will be more efficient. People will get more dependent on technology than we already are, and there are definitely pros and cons to that. Keeping people safe and keeping data out of the wrong hands will get more and more difficult, but the abilities of people to create and innovate will continue to increase with increased connectivity and capabilities. The old adage “With great power comes great responsibility” is a good way to think about the IoT and its future.
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