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Security and The Internet of Things: Balancing the Benefits and Challenges
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that describes a network of smart devices that can be communicate with each other and with applications.
ABI Research estimates that there are more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices and that the number will triple by 2020. Most of the devices today are smartphones and laptops, but increasingly cheap sensors and node devices are plugging in too. Similarly, Cisco predicts that there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2010. Cisco predicts that the ‘Value at Stake’ in the Internet of Things market will be $14.4 trillion for companies and industries worldwide in the next decade.
But one major worry is that having all these devices connected to the Internet will introduce additional vulnerabilities to hacking and cyber attacks. Christian Byrnes, analyst for Gartner, said that “physical security and information security are converging so rapidly that it’s becoming impossible to separate them… The Internet that we are currently experiencing is not the Internet that we were familiar with five years ago and 10 years ago. Things are changing extremely rapidly.”
Daniel Crowley, security researcher at Trustwave Holdings, said that “it varies from device to device, but a common thread with a lot of these devices is they don’t require any authentication at all.”
For example, the US FDA recently issued a warning that as many as 300 medical devices have been identified as being at risk of cyber attack. Each device has become a potential point of failure and entry point into medical and hospital networks. The kinds of medical devices covered by the warning include things like insulin pumps, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, anesthesia devices, drug infusion pumps, ventilators, and pacemakers.
William Maisel, deputy director for science at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said that “Over the past year, we’ve become increasingly aware of cyber security vulnerabilities in incidents that have been reported to us. Hundreds of medical devices have been affected, involving dozens of manufacturers.”
Lighting systems are another area that have been identified as potentially vulnerable to hacking. Nitesh Dhanjani, researcher at Ernst and Young, said that “lighting is critical to physical security. Smart lightbulb systems are likely to be deployed in current and new residential and corporate constructions. An abuse case such as the ability of an intruder to remotely shut off lighting in locations such as hospitals and other public venues can result in serious consequences.”
