The Internet of Things

/ November 18, 2015

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While the Internet of Things (IoT) seems to deliver the smart home of the future as envisioned years ago in The Jetsons, there is much to consider before embracing such devices.

First and foremost on all computer experts’ concerns is security. Almost all of these devices will work through WiFi, which is notoriously insecure.

Many of the devices will, by design and intent, “phone home” to deliver usage data to vendors. That data will be sold and shared with others. A trend of the past few years with computer devices has been that the user is the product and with the IoT, this design basis will expand. Data mining will be part of all of these devices.

While the lure of ultimate convenience is tempting for many people, a simple question is whether this convenience is actually needed. Marketing tactics have long focused on convincing people of a “need” that does not really exist. The IoT will be no different.

For example, do people really need to control home thermostats with their smart phones? Is the common programmable thermostat already available in stores sufficient? Remember, if users can control their thermostats with their smart phone, so can malicious hackers if they discover a security exploit.

Does the bread toaster really need to communicate with the clothes washing machine or the refrigerator?

Currently the Internet of Things is a proverbial ticking time bomb. There is a dark side to this topic. Consider the following:

  • Technology is advancing faster than developers can cope with security and privacy.
  • With commodity devices security design generally has always been a low priority.
  • Security and privacy usually are not part of product designs.
  • A lack of privacy through user tracking in one form or another is now commonplace.
  • There is no control with how vendors will use data.
  • An attraction to vendors is free marketing research.
  • An attraction to criminals is targeting homes and businesses to exploit any useful data.
  • An attraction to government spies is everything and anything.
  • Being wireless, IoT devices will connect to any router device found. In an urban environment, securing your own router will be insufficient because IoT devices will use neighbors’ routers or other nearby wireless access points (AP).
  • As the IoT market grows, expect some devices to contain built-in wireless routers.
  • Devices will be sold with planned built-in obsolescence, pressuring users into an endless cycle of updating hardware and firmware.
  • Similarly, there is no profit in long-term maintenance. Expect firmware and security updates to be limited at best, if they exist at all.
  • Like desktop and mobile devices, ransomware authors will target these devices.
  • Expect insurance providers to adapt by including exclusion clauses for hacked damages, such as spoiled food in IoT refrigerators, busted plumbing pipes caused by furnace failures, or fires caused by hacked devices.
  • Large scale distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks will be possible and possibly become common.

For now, the “Internet of Things” is a fuzzy, catch-all, upbeat, sounds really cool, slogan. In reality, now that data mining and tracking is so prolific and in many ways users have become the product, the slogan is much more nefarious. Not seen or widely discussed with the topic is control. There are people who very much want to control others through this fancy new “concept” called the “Internet of Things.” A potential vendor lock-in nightmare. From a cynical perspective, the IoT is not about empowering users but empowering vendors and governments. A potential feudal society full of landlords controlling how people use things in their homes. Since a majority of people cannot tinker or program computers, they will be helpless against controlling these devices.

Does the bread toaster really need to communicate with the clothes washing machine or the refrigerator? Probably not, but since most of these devices will be designed to mine and share data, the data could be used against device owners. The data from the refrigerator about what people eat might be reported to health insurance providers. Forget to connect a seat belt? The data could be reported to police and auto insurance providers. Have an old fashioned heated disagreement with a family member? The data might be reported to social service people.

Dystopian? Yes, but at this stage, only hypothetically. This type of usage does not have to happen, but best to be prepared rather than ignore the dark side.

There is a bright utopian way to look forward to the IoT. Who knows, one day people might walk the dog and use a robotic pooper scooper from the comfort of an easy chair. Until then be smart, be cautious, ask a lot of questions, demand a full meeting of the minds. Until this new technology frontier is well settled, expect bumps and bruises. Perhaps even worse.

Technical trivia: The transistor was invented at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1947. The first integrated circuit was developed at Texas Instrument labs in 1958. The Intel 4004, a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU), was the first commercially available microprocessor, introduced in 1971.

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