Internet of Things Applications

You hear a lot of people talking about how great life will be when cars drive themselves and the Internet of Things is fully deployed. But while many of us dismiss this chatter as background noise, one industry is paying close attention and champing at the bit to get started.

Yes, of course, it's the advertising industry. After all, when cars drive themselves, you'll have more time to look at the ads that will be popping up on strategically located screens. Your refrigerator will automatically order almond milk, egg whites, and fat-free butter while it tries to get you to try a new kind of genetically engineered hot dog.

Right at the moment, the advertising trades are obsessing over self-driving taxis and dreaming of the contextual ad possibilities they present.

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Or as Hewitt put it in his interview with the Daily:

“Not too far into the future the ads will be contextually presented and may also be served up as bite-sized services instead of just targeted display advertising.”

If everything works out as planned, it will be just like having a little person on your shoulder, constantly nagging you to do all the things your favorite brands want you to do.

See more at: consumeraffairs.com

For those of us Boomers who have witnessed first hand the invention, application, proliferation and ultimately the world domination of the Internet, it might all seem like sort of a blur.



Doesn’t it feel like just yesterday that the nerdy guy in your office barged into your cubicle, took control of your IBM PC or Compaq or maybe even your Mac SE, and logged onto NetScape?

“This is the future of computing,” he might have said as you studied the awkwardly formatted text slowly rendering across your screen. I remember my reaction:

“Bull pucky! Where’s the sound, the music, the voice-over, the animated graphics, the color photos, the video windows?”

It must have been around 1994, and multimedia on CD-ROM, created in a popular authoring tool called MacroMind Director, was all the rage. How could the snail-paced, text-based content delivered on the NetScape browser over the World Wide Web possibly supplant the showbiz content we could deliver on CD-ROM?

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Some of us, regardless of the breadth or our attack surface and whether or not we like adjusting the temperature of our refrigerator from the golf course, are donning an extra layer of protection in the form of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This service allows us to encrypt the data that travels from our devices to our Internet service provider. Corporations have employed them for years, which is what our corporate friends are talking about when they refer to information “behind the firewall.” VPNs aren’t a guarantee of complete safety, but they make our data more difficult to hack.

The net-net of it all: if we want to keep something private we’d better keep it offline, to the extent that we can. It may be a little more difficult to teach our kids, and especially our grandkids, about things like 35mm film, padlocks with real keys, checkbooks and other rapidly disappearing devices of the analog age.

Who ever would have thought that so much havoc could be wreaked with a bunch of zeros and ones?

See more at: huffingtonpost.com

As is the case with several other popular tech buzzphrases -- "big data," "cloud computing" and "cybersecurity" come to mind -- dozens of companies have talked up their investments in what they deem to be the "Internet of Things," or IoT. Big-name chipmakers, telecom service providers and cloud service providers all fit the bill here. But a look at just how much IoT exposure these companies have often shows that hype far exceeds reality.



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Second, Gartner expects about two-thirds of the connected things that will be in existence in 2020 -- 13.5 billion -- to be consumer devices. This appears to include smartphones and tablets, and broadly contains a number of products that aren't likely to fuel major growth for telecom or cloud service providers angling to profit from a surge in the number of connected devices.

Talk to Josh Corman long enough and the beeps and blinks of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices that increasingly dot our world take on a terrifying shape.



"There are more devices and more types of devices, so this just gives you more ways for people to track you or hurt you," Corman, a long-time security expert and cofounder of I Am The Cavalry, says. "What we've done is blindly assume that [adding software and connectivity] is always good. And we're making really horrible, horrible choices."

Corman founded IATC—a cybersecurity research non-profit focused on reducing IoT-related public safety risks—with security researcher Nick Percoco at a 2013 hacker conference. Medical devices are a big area of concern for Corman and his group. Besides vulnerable insulin pumps and pacemakers, hacker-researchers have shown high-tech hospital equipment—from Bluetooth-enabled defibrillators to remotely controlled drug infusion drips—could be manipulated toward grievous, even deadly, ends. IATC is also keeping an eye on connected cars, home security and automation systems and "smart" public infrastructure, like utility grids and traffic control.

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"The majority of the security industry has been focused on private sector, protecting a bank or credit cards," points out Corman. As software started springing up in insulin pumps and cars, he became more concerned. "I’m thinking, 'Guys, we can’t even secure credit cards with $80 billion of our best and brightest—why are we putting dependencies in areas that can kill people?'"

Through IATC, Corman and a network of volunteer cybersecurity experts and whitehat hackers have developed a five-point list of standards for connected cars and have started collaborating with the Society of Automotive Engineers. He plans to release similar guidelines for other "life and limb" applications of the technology, including medical devices and public infrastructure.

But security remains an optional pursuit for manufacturers. "IoT technologies in general don’t have good security," says Susan Landau, faculty member at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a distinguished scholar on cybersecurity and privacy issues. "There are no legal frameworks that demand good security. We’re racing ahead yet again without putting the security and privacy in."

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Tien suggests that the fact that the well-meaning motivation that powers data collection in public places—for "smart city" initiatives, for example—helps normalize the Big Brother-esque creepiness of Big Data.

"There is a real attraction to what I would call dangerous surveillance practices when those practices are aimed at people and their everyday lives and trying to solve urban problems," he says. "If you associate the surveillance with Dick Cheney it’s bad; if you associate the surveillance with Bill de Blasio that is another thing."

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President Obama’s administration has taken up cybersecurity as a national safety and security issue with a recent push to enlist the help of private industry. In January, Obama proposed legislation that would help shield companies that share online-threat data with the government from lawsuits, and last month he signed an executive order that urges (but does not require) companies to share information on cybersecurity threats more broadly, in the interest of improving threat protection systems.

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Corman and other experts agree that the FTC’s broad recommendations for IoT manufacturers—build security in at the outset, implement lifecycle monitoring, train employees in security—are on the right track. But with the industry consigned to self-regulation for now, the current growing pains of data, security, and privacy within the IoT are likely to persist.

"We’ve moved into a completely new world," says Landau. "We are facing massive losses of privacy and, until we learn how to operate in it—we, the public, and we, the government—getting protection for it is going to be awkward. Or more than awkward."

See more at: fastcompany.com

The healthcare industry is plagued with data breaches and other cybersecurity nightmares. At the same time, connected medical devices – components of the so-called Internet of Things – are multiplying, opening more holes in security and creating terrible potential for patient casualties.



Without doubt, unsecured medical devices currently are putting hospitals and patients at risk, according to “Healthcare’s IoT Dilemma: Connected Medical Devices,” a new report from Forrester Research analyst Chris Sherman.

“You have less control over connected medical devices than any other aspect of your technology environment,” the report said. “Many times, vendors control patch and update cycles, and vulnerabilities persist that require segmentation from your network. Considering that many of these devices are in direct contact with patients, this is a major cause for concern.”

Additionally, medical devices are vulnerable to four attack scenarios, the report said. “Threats against medical devices include denial-of-service (DoS), patient data theft, therapy manipulation and asset destruction,” the report said. “Each represents risk to your organization, with DoS currently being the most severe.”

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1. Categorize existing devices based on risk.

Once an organization places a device on a network, it becomes part of a connected system. Websites like Shodan (“The search engine for the Internet of Things”) expose thousands of searchable end-points around the world that lack security and/or use default passwords.

“There are five key factors that contribute to the risk rating of any medical device: Potential impact to patient safety; Network connectivity; Data sensitivity; Likelihood of attack; and Vendor security SLA,” the report said. “For starters, use industry risk assessment guidelines, standards and expertise. The Medical Device Innovation, Safety and Security Consortium (MDISS) provides a space for industry leaders to collaborate and exchange ideas; the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), established by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), released its first cybersecurity practice guide last year called ‘Securing Electronic Health Records on Mobile Devices’; and Forrester Research’s Medical Device-Risk Heat Map can help categorize devices based on risk.”

2. Implement a clinical risk management framework.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), for example, publishes voluntary standards across various technology industries.

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3. Ensure that your organization follows basic security hygiene.

Forrester Research reported that the vast majority of healthcare breaches in the past few years were due to social engineering and spear-phishing attacks. These problems have known solutions, but these solutions often demand a major cultural change by an organization.

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4. Include security requirements in new device requests for proposals and contract language.

Medical device manufacturers generally are not required to include security controls on their devices nor provide guidance to their customers on how to protect devices. But healthcare organizations, as potential customers, have the power to get manufacturers to do so.

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5. Apply a zero trust networking architecture.

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See more at: healthcareitnews.com

The world’s best athletes are currently on display at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, and some are using wearable technology powered by the Internet of Things to help them go for the gold.



United States sprinter Allyson Felix has reached Olympic glory already, taking home gold medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London, but she is still looking for a leg-up on her competition. According to a report from The Huffington Post, she is just one of several athletes embracing wearable IoT technology as they look to improve their training and boost their performance in the games.

Felix trained for her upcoming track-and-field events with a pair of 3D-printed shoes designed specifically for her feet. The sneakers not only conform perfectly to her foot but provide Felix with feedback on her performance.

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It’s not just American athletes, as South African track-and-field star Willem Coertzen trained for Rio using a Hexoskin smart shirt. The shirt, like the Solos eyewear, can measure information like heart rate, speed, breathing patterns and other biometric indicators.

Wearable technology is having a significant impact on the space, as can be seen in the PYMNTS.com Internet of Things Tracker. The latest tracker features several news stories about companies investing in wearable technology in products ranging from speakers to athletic gear.

See more at: pymnts.com

The Internet of Things may just hold the key to the future of banking, says Jacqueline Guichelaar, head of infrastructure and service delivery for Lloyds Banking Group. With the topic of transformation dominating banking industry conversations amid the race towards a digital future, it’s clear that the Internet of Things is driving that change.



The status quo simply cannot continue and the major new force that is IoT is serving to transform the industry from the inside out, pushed by the twin drivers of heightened customer and regulatory demand.

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The Internet of Things enables a whole new level of personalised banking - indeed, the possibility of branches becoming equipped with sensing technology that can recognise customers as they walk in and respond to their own particular needs suddenly becomes a tantalising reality.

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Hand-in-hand with the likes of the cloud and big data, IoT is set to be implemented on a massive scale, creating major new business opportunities as we continue to embrace a world that’s connected like never before. It could even serve to be the differentiator that separates the winners from the losers in the race for true banking innovation.

Change is now a must - and IoT is set to be the key competitive advantage that helps tomorrow’s market leaders set the pace.

See more at: finextra.com

Gone are the days when the only internet-connected devices we had were our phones and computers. With the passage of time, more and more home appliances and products are being added to the list of devices that are connected to the internet, or the so-called “Internet of Things” (IoT).



The list includes but is not limited to smart thermostats, security cameras, washing machines, smart kettles, smart refrigerators, etc. Some offer smart optimization of resources on the basis of your data while some offer remote monitoring from a distant location.

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SMART HOMES – A SERIOUS THREAT TO PRIVACY! We have finally managed to make our homes “smart,” but at the cost of our privacy and security. Every home device connected to the internet is a security threat, as malicious actors can use it to spy on you and steal information about your lifestyle and personal life. Marketers can use this information to target you with unwanted ads. At the same time, government agencies and third-party party firms can steal and sell your data.

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MR. ROBOT – THE TRUE DEPICTION OF SMART HOME HORRORS If anyone still wants to see how this heavenly technological blessing can turn into a disaster, just watch the TV show Mr. Robot. The show depicts how most people carelessly use web-enabled devices when they are generally cautious of their home privacy and security. It also portrays how technology can be disastrous if used without any reasonable security measures.

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These tips will not guarantee 100% security for your devices, but it will surely boost your devices’ security and ultimately, help you to guard your privacy. Be safe, everyone!

See more at: tripwire.com

We’ve been reading about how Internet of Things will revolutionise the tech world. But it also has a fair share of drawbacks, especially security concerns. Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, author and the CTO of Resilient Systems, now warns about the outcomes of IoT and how software hacks could get worse. “On the Internet of Things, integrity and availability threats are much worse than confidentiality threats,” he writes.



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Talking about interconnections, he explains how systems will become interconnected, leading vulnerabilities in one resulting into an attack on another. “Vulnerabilities on one system cascade into other systems, and the result is a vulnerability that no one saw coming and no one bears responsibility for fixing. The Internet of Things will make exploitable vulnerabilities much more common. It’s simple mathematics. If 100 systems are all interacting with each other, that’s about 5,000 interactions and 5,000 potential vulnerabilities resulting from those interactions,” he adds.

Finally, our devices are getting autonomous. This also means attacks can take place automatically and ubiquitously. We’ve already seen Fiat Chrysler recall 1.4 million vehicles to prevent hacking. The report explains how, in future, the governments could face large-scale issues due to IoT. He also adds that governments should in fact play a larger role by ‘setting standards, policing compliance, and implementing solutions across companies and networks’.

See more at: firstpost.com

A match lasts a few seconds, after which it’s just a splinter of burned, useless wood nobody would bother keeping. For an entire generation, this ephemeral quality is precisely what the internet now symbolizes: a place that can provide simple but powerful tools, allow you to express yourself, and then, immediately, it disappears, not by accident, but because that is how it was designed.



A good article in The New Yorker called “Snapchat, Instagram Stories and the internet of forgetting“, discusses the launch of Instagram Stories, which in many people’s view is the best copy of Snapchat ever created – at the third attempt following the previous failures of Facebook Poke and Slingshot – and proof of how the internet is moving from being a place where we store things permanently, where we store our memories, to one of expressing ourselves in real time, and that once published, disappears within 24 hours. After initially looking as though young people would only use Instagram Stories to ask for follows on Snapchat, now the app is becoming more popular and winning over users from a wider age group than Snapchat has attracted, while the founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, openly admits that the concept is Snapchat’s and that copying is seen in Silicon Valley as valuable.

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Things changed with Snapchat. Nobody really knows if the change was about not wanting reminders of things we’d done popping up 20 years down the road, or whether it was about doing something different to our parents, or about privacy, or perhaps a mix of all of them from the perspective of a generation that has become perfectly used to carrying a camera that is essentially a powerful computer around, but the truth is that young people discovered a new way to use the internet, a way in which the value was in the moment, the conversation, the joke, the wink: like a conversation at the bar, which nobody imagines anybody else is listening to, and much less recording. The youngest generation feels more comfortable without anybody eavesdropping on them, and decided to use a new communication channel for fleeting conversations.

See more at: forbesc.com