Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Security issues impede the potential benefits of Internet of Things (IoT)

How many objects do we have that is connected to internet? Answer to this about, a decade ago would be computers; Smartphone’s and tablets but today nearly everything around us — right from coffee pots to Smart TV to watches everything is able to interact, transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. This idea of Physical objects being connected to the internet is referred as The Internet of Things.

The idea of Physical objects being connected to the internet is referred as The Internet of Things IoT. Linking all objects in the world with tiny machine-readable identifiers could be huge makeover of daily life. For instance, business may no longer run out of stock much before any crisis arises. One would be able to interact with objects and alter remotely based on immediate or present needs. In next to no time, world will  soon be covered with billions of sensors, continuously monitoring ,captivating  the real time data from the real world and uploading it into the internet. The planet we live will be a place, where internet is always on. Every object living or non-living will be inhaling intelligent sensors all around. These interconnected sensors and devices will soon facilitate new insights, superior efficiency, and bring totally new Business Model unlike the conventional models used. This Internet of Things will indicate companies to alter business models, incorporate evolving technology, and use analytics to create and design new organizations.  According to Cisco, Internet of Everything will have an economic impact of over $14 trillion by 2022. GE says the “Industrial Internet” could add $15 trillion to the world economy over the next 20 years. The latest revision of Internet protocol from IPv4 to IPv6’s is important factor in the development of the Internet of Things. Research says, every device that connects to the Internet requires an IP address, and it has been predicted that by 2020 there will be 50 billion Internet-enabled devices in the world. This equates to more than six connected devices per person, based on an expected global population of 7.6 billion people.

Risk by Internet of Things will affect enterprise security:

The privacy and security risks posed by the Internet of Things will pose a growing challenge for IT security professionals managing online transactions and relationships in the coming years,
  • Privacy: this is the primary risk posed by IoT which will create billions of new (insecure) end points. These IP-addressable devices will compromise the device or gain access to the enterprise network. User personal data will get be available on the internet and will have to be protected from unauthorized access.
     
  • Information gathering: The next concern is about the privacy of the information gathering. User information and past browsing history will be accessed by the companies to better understand and predict behavior. This can be used by companies to plan their strategy better and come up with better products. However the risk of such data getting misused for frauds etc always remains.
     
  • Information Sharing: will be shared across things, application or sectors. This will have dramatic impact on data privacy and protection.
     
  • Increasing attacks: Many of the devices could be hijacked to carry out distributed-denial-of-service attacks more easily than, say, a botnet of laptops, PCs or servers because most computers have anti-malware software, protection many "things" lack.
The Internet of Things is an upcoming and growing trend influencing our daily lives. If it doesn’t already influence your life in a way it will soon. We are still in the early stages of the IoT and are still very traditional. Along with the endless opportunities come downside around risk and security. It's clear that we want to take advantage of the IoT but none of us want infringement of our personal data. To safeguard and make use of the potential benefits of IoT privacy policies, legislation and technology all need to come together.

How seriously is your organization taking Internet of Things security and privacy? What safeguards are you taking in preparing your organization for the above mentioned issues. Planning well in advance can ensure organizations are not caught unawares when it comes to protection of their data.

About Author:
Kintu Racca is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at: kintu.r@spluspl.com

1 comment:

  1. It's most helpful blog, Thanks for sharing this blog. I have also a blog about Role of AI in IoT Revolution

    ReplyDelete