The Internet connects computers around the world and these devices have transformed over the years. From giant systems that fill an entire room, to the Internet of Things. The Internet also connects us with cyber criminals; unfortunately, you will be a target of their activities, frequently without being aware.
The bad news is that we are in a situation whereby there are a rising number of attackers; the really bad news is that they will have an even greater quantity of targets to compromise. The 2014 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) was both exciting and horrifying to me; with each gadget including some Internet enabled feature.
Today you may tend to the security of maybe several devices, however with the Internet of Things, you will add your car, all of the home and even wearable devices. These talented bad guys will find a way to compromise the system and then you will need an update.
Never before will you have so much of your personal information available on the Internet. If the attackers are targeting you, they now have a multitude of access vectors to explore. If they are just using you as a resource to target another, your home devices could easily be a part of a nation state sponsored denial of service attack on some targeted country.
Most people will never update these Internet of Things devices and herein lies the real issue. Securing a system is about constantly being able to adapt to the changing threat environment, with a hard enough time updating all our current applications, now add 30 more devices from 10 different vendors and you see the problem.
Consumers don’t know how to ask for these security features so the vendors are not going to prioritise them. Security standards will be put in place, but they move too slowly when compared to the threat environment. So what is the answer? How is this all going to play out?
I don’t think any of the consumer electronic vendors will have the incentive to invest in a secure software development practice. So if devices are not secure, we will have to secure the devices and this will involve a birth of services for the home. It is a huge opportunity for service providers to step in and deliver enterprise level security expertise for the home and individuals of that home.
When dealing with the security of the Internet of Things we are talking about the security of the Internet at large. I see a lot of new devices coming on line that will bring with them new vulnerabilities that will need remediation. You as a consumer must understand the total cost of ownership here and a device that gets compromised is a device that will require your attention and the ability to update so first and foremost, understand how your vendors will be delivering updates to these systems and preferably in an automated fashion. An insecure system on the Internet is everyone’s problem.
