Internet of Things – Useful Yet Dangerous

Internet of Things – Useful Yet Dangerous

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

Imagine that a hacker could break into a patient’s information and change the dosage their insulin pump injects into that patient’s body. Such a scenario could be possible in the future with the Internet of Things (IoT) trend that aims to connect systems and devices to the internet infrastructure. This revolution should make out lives easier, save us time waiting in lines or driving during traffic, but in reality – the more personal information and personal vital devices are connected to the internet – the more danger we are in.

Not only insulin pumps could be in danger, but office buildings’ elevators and smart cars, among other things. Almost every device today incorporates the use of the internet and all these devices are under a potential threat of cyber attacks. Furthermore, a cyber attack could have physical consequences, as with the case of the insulin dosage. For a while now, information and data are not only basis for the average business to make better, more informed decisions, but can easily affect different aspects of people’s lives if not secured properly.

Information security processes have three basic rules – data’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability, but it should definitely include the matter of security. As more information becomes digital, more information is under threat and needs to be protected.

Even now organizations are starting to contemplate what their business will look like in a few years – dealing with suppliers, partners and logistics. How could trust be established in this chain when each link can lead to theft or malicious use of information? Will the ways we work and the levels of trust we have in each other change as a result of concerns due to cyber security? After all, our global economy has an unprecedented level of relying on co-operations between countries and suppliers. Just take the army for example. We have come across such instances where clients refused to purchase communications gear from certain suppliers due to the country manufacturing the gear for fear of cyber attacks. It seems, then, that increasing our use of the internet and implementing it into our lives will no doubt continue to raise such doubts and concerns.

Subscribe to our newsletter.