The Scary Side of The “Internet of Things”

The Internet of Things, or IoT for short, is poised to take over every aspect of our daily routines, from alarm clocks that can monitor our sleep cycles to refrigerators that help you plan your grocery shopping. These appliances have already started entering the market. With the current millennial generation trying to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, these appliances are largely geared towards their tastes. This approach is idealized in the new oven named “June”. Not only does this oven bake, but it’s equipped with WiFi, a built-in wide-angle HD camera, a five-inch touch screen display, and a digital scale. This oven comes with a smartphone app that allows you to know how quickly your food is cooking, the oven temperature and the ability to watch your cookies as they bake — all for the thrifty price of $1,495. After this fantastical example of appliances in the IoT, you may think that IoT is a passing phase and it will burst faster than the housing bubble, but much like twitter and the word “swag”, it’s here to stay. The Internet of Things, or IoT for short, is poised to take over every aspect of our daily routines, from alarm clocks that can monitor our sleep cycles to refrigerators that help you plan your grocery shopping. These appliances have already started entering the market. With the current millennial generation trying to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, these appliances are largely geared towards their tastes. This approach is idealized in the new oven named “June”. Not only does this oven bake, but it’s equipped with WiFi, a built-in wide-angle HD camera, a five-inch touch screen display, and a digital scale. This oven comes with a smartphone app that allows you to know how quickly your food is cooking, the oven temperature and the ability to watch your cookies as they bake — all for the thrifty price of $1,495. After this fantastical example of appliances in the IoT, you may think that IoT is a passing phase and it will burst faster than the housing bubble, but much like twitter and the word “swag”, it’s here to stay. The wearable trend has also recently skyrocketed into vogue status with the release of the Apple Watch. Since then, new wearable-tech has hit the market with headbands that relieve stress, to patches that monitor your babies’ health. This new IoT-centric world we’re catapulting into sounds wonderful — but is it too good to be true? The answer is: probably yes. With the rise of objects becoming connected to a network, one has to remember that anything with an IP address can be hacked. This notion won’t mean much if you have a smart toaster — unless having your breakfast ruined by a hacker truly is the end of the world. It can, however, spell disaster for hospitals, cars, and other industries. News reports of smart cars getting hacked by cyber-terrorists are already surfacing. Wired, the online technology publication, decided to run their own test to see how easy it would be to hack into the IoT. Andy Greenberg, a senior writer for Wired, volunteered to be the test crash dummy while two renowned hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Vaselek, worked to hack his car from a laptop 10 miles away. They started by getting into Greenberg’s Jeep Cherokee and messing with the air control and sound system. Eventually they escalated the test to where Greenberg had lost control of the car and it was driving 70 mph in downtown St. Louis. Despite the dangerous experiment, Greenberg and the public weren’t harmed. However, this test goes to show the inherent vulnerability of IoT objects. IoT is going to bring a myriad of appliances and objects that will make our way of life easier and more enjoyable, but it’s coupled with many dangers. If you want to be part of the rising IoT trend, we recommend you invest in a sturdy security system so the only person in control of their objects is you. Do you have questions regarding this article? Let us know in the comments below or e-mail us at: LinkMail@LinkTek.com Try Now!