Opinion

On the Internet of Things, Cheap may Cost You | VentureBeat

Venturebeat has a nice, contributed blog post by Michael Daly, of Raytheon on the lurking problem of device insecurity within the consumer Internet of Things. As Daly sees it, mass adoption of Internet of Things technologies seems destined to leave us with environments populated by low-cost and vulnerable devices whose makers don’t consider their wares valuable enough to maintain. From the article: “Offering a constant stream of security patches and updates to keep low-cost devices safe and functional for the long-term requires money. If vulnerabilities are discovered, patches or updates might be issued, but only in the first year or two. The vendor expectation is that users will need to buy a full replacement or live with the risks — not to mention that users are not very likely to manage patches and updates for non-critical devices.” In contrast to the kinds of managed networks we’re used to – with vendors […]

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Have we been wrong about the Internet of Things all along?

I’m just slogging through all the articles I marked “to read” but never got around to during the relax-o-frenzy that is the holiday season. One of the better ones I’ve found comes from the Web site Techbitzz.com. On December 31, they ran a nice and succinct write up that addresses one of the most confusing nomenclature problems in the technology world today: the differences between “machine-to-machine” (or M2M) technology and the “Internet of Things” (or IoT). As the article notes, the tendency these days is to just conflate “M2M” and “IoT” – as if the latter is just a newer, cooler term for the former. But that’s not the case. In fact: the two terms refer to very different things. According to the article: “M2M can be defined in simple terms as, ‘Machines’ (can be a sensor, meter, valve etc)  using network resources (can comprise of core telecom network, back-end […]

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The Moral of Sony? Stop Doing Attribution

The hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which first came to light on November 24th, devolved this week into a chaotic international “whodunnit” with conflicting reports attributing the incident to everything from the government of North Korea to the government of China to global hacktivist group Anonymous to disgruntled Sony employees. For sure: those attributing the attack to hacking crews within the military of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) had their argument bolstered by reports in the New York Times and elsewhere claiming that the U.S. government now believes that the DPRK, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, was responsible for the devastating hack. Officials at Sony Pictures Entertainment clearly believe the connection is credible, ordering the cancellation of the release of the Sony Pictures film The Interview following threats of violence on theaters showing the film. That acceded to a key demand of the hackers, who have used the […]

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Five Steps to Secure Internet of Things | Network World

Colin Neagle over at Networkworld has a nice piece that takes provides some common-sense advice for enterprises that are worried about their exposure to the Internet of Things. As Neagle notes: surveys of IT leaders (albeit industry-sponsored surveys) suggest that businesses are anxious to embrace Internet of Things technologies that improve the productivity of workers. But they may be underestimating (or entirely overlooking) the security and privacy risks that go along with that adoption. Neagle notes the recent TripWire survey that suggested 63% of C-level executives said they were likely to adopt the IoT to increase productivity and efficiency, while just 27% reported being “very concerned” about the security risks. His advice: don’t underestimate the risk posed by Internet of Things products. Also: make sure that IT operations is pulled into the discussion of any new IoT technology deployment. Read more via 5 ways to prepare for Internet of Things security […]

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2015 is Apparently Not The Year for IoT Standards

CIO has an end-of-year, “crystal ball” interview with Gartner analyst Kristian Streenstrup and Forrester analyst Tim Sheedy on how the Internet of Things is likely to mature and change in 2015. Her high-level thoughts: Applications and use cases for the IoT continue to grow, but progress towards cross-industry standards will not keep pace. (We wrote about whether its already too late to have real standardization in IoT here.) To the extent that there is movement towards IoT standards, it will come within specific industry verticals, with the backing of major firms (like GE) or at the tip of a regulator’s pencil, Streenstrup says. Consumer adoption of IoT will be “slow,” argues Forrester’s Sheedy. Why? No surprise – poor interaction and connectivity. “It’s still a one app- one device model,” Sheedy says, underscoring a problem that gets back to the standards question. Read more via Where is the Internet of Things heading in 2015? […]

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