How the Internet of Things is Changing our World

Today, there are an estimated 8.4 billion devices connected to the internet. This is just the beginning of the Internet of Things (IoT). Amid all the publicity about the growing incidence of connecting toasters and refrigerators to the internet, there has been a remarkable lack of public interest or even awareness of the precipitous long term implications of this trend.

Part of the reason may be because people don't realize how fast it is moving. And perhaps they don't realize how extensive the IoT will be. There has been lots of publicity and some concern about the linking of cars, given the prospect of the cars being hacked by groups intent on wreaking destruction. But this is only one aspect of the IoT.

Connectivity of things has expanded to medical equipment, pressure gauges, pollution detectors, cameras, microphones, glucose sensors, EKGs, electroencephalographs, etc.

More recently, the connectivity has extended to include animals and sometimes humans. On the east coast, people have been watching with interest the travels of a large white shark, named Hilton, along the coast of Nova Scotia. surfacing occasionally to connect with the internet through a device attached to him in North Carolina, and even tweeting occasionally to invite his friends to join him on this beautiful coast (a slight intervention by his monitors).

Upcoming connectivity is expected to extend to the human brain, opening the possibility of hacking people's brains. And the scope for control by unscrupulous governments is striking.  Even more Orwellian that Orwell.

And the incidence of hacking attempts has grown. In October, 2016, there was a large Denial of Service attack on Dyn, an internet services company that helps connectivity of millions of devices, including thermostats and baby monitors. Recently there was another large attack called Wannacry, which involved capturing files and demanding payment for their release.  This attack increased awareness and concern in some quarters.

These events and the certainty of the expansion of the IoT point clearly to an urgent need for intervention and the establishment of security controls over the IoT. A massive challenge but one that cannot be ignored.