4 thoughts on “Internet of Things and the environment”
Chris Young
Then there’s the security… 🙂
At the risk of sounding like I need a tin-foil hat, it is worth remembering that for there to be an “Internet of Things”… then “Things need to be accessible over the Internet”.
Whilst the Daily Mail et al will leap on the sensationalist stories about snoopers using baby monitors, much of the responsibility for security lies with the end user or organisation providing a mandatory device. Un-patched or poorly set up network “things” already litter the internet allowing you to snoop, control or poke around in shops, building control systems or even home NAS file stores.
This is a slightly less sensational article on the subject from Forbes. It highlights Shodan as a place where lists of such deceives are collected. By spending 15 minutes over a cup of tea, I probably got myself added to an NSA list somewhere for moving security cameras in Canadian convenience stores and peeping at a couple of random NAS drives.. just to prove the point 🙂
In reality, the next time most of us will encounter the IoT is when we get our shiny new smart energy meters – happily recording hourly and daily usage data (unless you opt out) and phoning it home. The significance here is that instead of being attached to your MP3 collection or Sky box, this device (literally) holds the keys to your electricity supply, so of course our Energy Cos will be keeping it patched and secure… won’t they?
Then there’s the security… 🙂
At the risk of sounding like I need a tin-foil hat, it is worth remembering that for there to be an “Internet of Things”… then “Things need to be accessible over the Internet”.
Whilst the Daily Mail et al will leap on the sensationalist stories about snoopers using baby monitors, much of the responsibility for security lies with the end user or organisation providing a mandatory device. Un-patched or poorly set up network “things” already litter the internet allowing you to snoop, control or poke around in shops, building control systems or even home NAS file stores.
This is a slightly less sensational article on the subject from Forbes. It highlights Shodan as a place where lists of such deceives are collected. By spending 15 minutes over a cup of tea, I probably got myself added to an NSA list somewhere for moving security cameras in Canadian convenience stores and peeping at a couple of random NAS drives.. just to prove the point 🙂
In reality, the next time most of us will encounter the IoT is when we get our shiny new smart energy meters – happily recording hourly and daily usage data (unless you opt out) and phoning it home. The significance here is that instead of being attached to your MP3 collection or Sky box, this device (literally) holds the keys to your electricity supply, so of course our Energy Cos will be keeping it patched and secure… won’t they?
Ha! Yes, all that too!
On a vaguely related topic I did see this story about a smart Bluetooth-operated toilet with security so lax (geddit?) its flush could be hacked.
Anyway, if you’re not at your desk tomorrow we’ll be able to use Shodan to check the camera feed for that black ops prison THEY’ll have taken you to.
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