privacy

The Internet of Things,Part 2

bonniebraceysutton Leave a comment

unsetinternet-things-iot-word-icons-globe-world-map-dotted-51758679

 

I have spent time at NIST studying the Internet of Things since my last post on it. There are some new things to share including this video from the National Institute of Standards. NIST.

What is the Internet of Things (IoT) and how can we secure it?

Video https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/684682

So you may think well what has that got to do with me? I don’t care about IoT is what a lot of people say initially until they learn more.

Oh Yawn…some would still say!

How about this headline?

A company that sells “smart” teddy bears leaked 800,000 user account credentials—and then hackers locked it and held it for ransom.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pgwean/internet-of-things-teddy-bear-leaked-2-million-parent-and-kids-message-recordings

Internet of Things Examples

Mostly people care about personal uses:

These are a few of the examples on the link

Remember to take your meds

Monitor an aging family member

Check on the Baby

Stay Out of the Doctor’s Office

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YOUR CITY

Engage with the data exhaust produced from your city and neighborhood

Light streets more effectively

Monitoring flooding

There are many  examples to show how IoT can affect you personally.

internet-of-things

 

“In the next century, planet earth will don an electronic skin.
It will use the Internet as a scaffold to support and transmit its sensations.” – Neil Gross 1999

 

IoT solutions can be built for large amount of application areas. In manufacturing industry sector even a new concept has been created to describe the new generation IoT enhanced manufacturing: Industry 4.0. IoT can essentially improve manufacturing process monitoring, analyzing, optimizing and managing. In healthcare sector wristbands connected with smartphones can tell heartbeat rate, steps taken and sleep pattern to encourage healthier behavior. Energy consumption of buildings can be controlled intelligent ways. There are even developed fridges which can send the content information to the user’s mobile phone.

In logistics IoT is widely in use and will spread to new logistics application areas in the future. Traffic infrastructure has lots of data collecting points. This data can be used to help traffic control centers and infrastructure users to have real-time information on congestions, weather conditions, accidents etc. Vehicles’ and vessels’ movements can be monitored by location technologies and forwarded as estimated time of arrivals for the waiting customers. Load space and cargo temperatures can be remote monitored and if exceptions arise, the drivers or other users will be notified.

One of the most advanced new logistics IoT solutions is for waste collect transportation. The garbage bins have sensors which measure the free capacities of the bins. The system calculates the predicted time when the bin should be emptied. This information is sent to the route optimization program which produces the schedules and routes for the garbage truck drives.

Maintenance needs and driving of vehicles, forklifts and cranes can be monitored by IoT. Measuring can produce information on economical driving, safety, failures, performance etc. Based on this information the amount and models of machines or vehicles can be optimized, safer driving can be enhanced, work tasks can be optimized and many other improvements can be reached. Also emissions reducing have a big role and there is a need to collect reporting for greener logistics. Congestions increase harmful emissions and waste time – the data collected from navigators can dynamically produce alternative route options for users to select less crowded roads.

There have been large tests to monitor sea containers using boxes which can send for example location, temperature, humidity, movement shocks and door opening data to the shipment controller. This data helps with operation scheduling and risk management. There have been also pilot application where food packages have had sensors to monitor possible contamination risks. The sensor communicates with the back-end system using radio waves (rfid tag) and RFID technology is one the key enabling technologies in logistics IoT solutions.

Sensor systems can produce data several times per second, thus cumulating data amounts can become very large. Sometimes it’s reasonable to use big data –methods to store, handle and analyze data. Also the role of artificial intelligence technologies can help to find relevant information from IoT data. For example heart health can be evaluated using ECG curve analysis and instead of doctor the interpretation of the curve is done by intelligent algorithms. IoT applications can be taken into use as cloud solutions where the users see reporting results using web or mobile applications. Different kind of technical IoT platforms, devices and ecosystems have also developed rapidly and building applications is now faster and easier than in the past. On the other hand security risks have become real challenges because many IoT solutions were originally thought to be used in closed network and not in open Internet. Source;

http://www.logistiikanmaailma.fi/en/logistics/digitalization/internet-of-things-iot/

Oh Boring…some would still say!

Look at Education for the Future. We need to be aware of the excellence of ideas but also help oarrents and caregivers monitor and manage the relationship that their families have with media.

IOT is already here.iho

NCTA  

Click the link above!!

 

 

 

 

The Internet of Things!

bonniebraceysutton Leave a comment

child Headhttps://www.nist.gov/topics/internet-things-iot

The Internet of Things has been around for a while. The knowledge of it has not. Some of us laughed when Alexa was introduced on SNL because we understood that most people were not ready for her or SIRI.

What is Alexa and what does it do?
Amazon Echo (shortened and referred to as Echo) is a brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon.com. The devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which responds to the name “Alexa“. This “wake word” can be changed by the user to “Amazon”, “Echo” or “Computer”.
Smart speakers are two way. They intake information and pass it back to a network.
People started paying attention outside of industry when this happened.

Teddy Bear gives up personal data

Privacy people raised the alarm but educators were not ready for IoT. Here is why privacy people ran up the red flag. Privacy Concerns about AI, Mattel

Security concept: Privacy on digital background

Security concept: pixellated words Privacy on digital background, 3d render

IoT – from Internet of Things to Internet of Transformation

Virtually everyone knows that IoT stands for (the) Internet of Things and that it has something to do with connected things.
Yet, what can you do with “it”? What is IoT really about? And what does it have to do with transformation?

IoT is the popular acronym for Internet of Things. The IoT refers to the networking of physical devices such as objects and devices which are attached to living creatures, including humans.

These objects contain embedded technologies, can be uniquely identified via an IP address, and are able to sense, gather, collect and send data.

The potential and reality of the IoT does not lie in the ability to connect IoT-enabled objects nor in the embedded technologies and electronics such as sensors, actuators and connectivity capabilities. It resides in the ways the IoT is used to leverage the insights from data, automate, digitize, digitalize, optimize and in more mature stages transform processes, business models and even industries in a scope of digital transformation.

source

https://www.i-scoop.eu/

The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act’: Unlocking the Value of the Industrial Internet of Things – Moving from Promise to Reality 

The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act was introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators in August 2017 in response to several attacks spread via networks of infected IoT devices over the past year. The bill, which has been widely welcomed by stakeholders on all sides, is an attempt by legislators to establish minimum security requirements for federal procurements of connected devices, and work towards addressing the significant security challenges posed by the release and spread of insecure internet-connected devices. This session will explore the bill’s requirements and aims, and debate whether it goes far enough. It will look at areas in which possible clarifications may be needed; and examine challenges and opportunities that it may create for stakeholders on both federal agencies procuring goods and services; and the companies providing them. Ultimately, it will look at the extent to which it is likely to meet its objective of helping to create a more secure digital environment.

• What impact is the bill likely to have in helping to address security challenges posed by IoT and does the bill go far enough to ensure Internet of things devices used by federal agencies consistently meet enhanced security standards?
• What does the bill consider as the definition of ‘Connected devices’ and the scope of research exemption, and is there any clarification needed here? Does the legislation need to look further into mandating user behavior?
• What technical and competitive opportunities would this bill, if enacted, concretely represent to manufacturers of connected devices? What challenges may they face and how could these be overcome?
• How can it be ensured that the bill doesn’t hinder innovation in the IoT space? Should a country of origin-based limitation on purchase and storage be considered?
• What support may vendors need to make the required investments to further secure their IoT offerings?
• To what extent will the challenges related to the practical enforcement of this legislation be addressed?
• Although the proposed bill only applies to technology firms and contractors selling products to federal agencies, to what extent can it be expected to extend into private sector guidelines moving forward?
• What opportunities does the bill represent for cyber researchers and white-hat hackers, and to what extent will further cooperation between researchers and vendors be encouraged? Show less

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/opinion/sunday/allison-arieff-the-internet-of-way-too-many-things.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=1

 

“Connected devices using the Internet of Health Things are beginning to transform healthcare delivery. By introducing more connectivity, remote monitoring and information gathering, IoHT can encourage better use of healthcare resources, more informed decisions, a reduction in inefficiencies or waste and the empowerment of health consumers.”

 

IoT is a concept based on creating systems that intera ct with the physical world using networked  entities (e.g., sensors, actuators, information resources, people).

 There can be confusion around the meaning of the term “ Internet of Things ” for a variety of  reasons. They include: the cross -cutting aspect of IoT (specifically with respect to application  domains) ; the multitude of stakeholders involved in IoT and their specific use cases ; the complexity of IoT ; and the rapidly changing technology supporting IoT.  While there is no universal definition of IoT, common elements exist among the many high- level 325 definitions and descriptions for IoT. The Internet of Things consists of two foundational concepts:  IoT components are connected by a network providing the potential for a many -to-many 330 relationship between components (this network capability may or may not be TCP/IP based) ; and some of the IoT components have sensors and actuators that allow the components to interact with the physical world

NIST created a video for use and learn about it and cybersecurity.

 

nist-cybersecurity-and-internet-things

What is the Internet of Things?dtn-ssi

The Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data.Wikipedia

Internet of Things is a concept that increasingly takes more relevance.

It is a term that we hear constantly. Internet of Things or IoT, is an abstract concept but has been gaining quite a popularity in recent months. Everyday things that connect to the Internet, is a simple concept but in reality is much more than that.

If we were to give a definition of IoT probably better to say that it’s a network that connects physical objects to the Internet

IoT is not new at all. For about 30 years we have been working with the idea of making everyday objects more interactive.internet-things-iot-word-icons-globe-world-map-dotted-51758679

 

Beginner’s Guide for Understanding the Internet of Things

 

internet-of-things

The Internet of Things

bonniebraceysutton 3 Comments

The Internet as you know it is changing. There are two huge changes one which is for those of us on earth and a new space iteration and scaffolding that allow for use or the Internet in Space. But before we go Star Trek or StarWars in space, the Internet of Things is going to be something we want to talk about in a global sense.

                                 The Thing in the Internet of Things

There are four main system components for the Internet of Things(IoT)

1>The Thing

2>The local network.

3>The Internet

4>The cloud

IoT is not complicated in conception, but it is complex in its execution.What is important to understand is that even if new hardware and software are still under development, we already have all the tools we need now to start making IoT a reality. In this blog post we’ll only cover the “Thing” the rest will be covered in future blogs so keep an eye on this page.

So this brings us to our first question

What is the “Thing”?

things

Img Source: datasciencebe.com

Thing is an embedded computing device (or embedded system) that transmits and receives information over a network (need not be able to interface with internet directly) for the purpose of controlling another device or interacting with a user. A Thing is also a microcontroller—or microprocessor-based device.

Hence a simple chair, tv , fan , microwave , fridge, sprinkler, bulb etc, (the list goes on) on their own cannot be called “Things”. Why you ask ?

1) Most of day to day things do not have any embedded systems E.g.: bed , chair, fan, bulb.

2) Even if they do have embedded systems built in, they do not have the capabilities too transmit and receive information over a network. E.g. washing machine, microwave, electric stoves.

Okay… So now you may ask what is this “Thing” supposed to do?

The “Thing” may provide

1>Identification and info storage(RFID tags, MAC address)

2>Information collection (Sensor networks, store sensor values)

3>Information processing(Understanding commands, filtering data)

4>Communications (Transmit and receive messages)

5>Actuation (Switch control, motor control)

 

The Internet as it is , is evasive for many groups of people. Those who are distant, rural, tribal and urban have a problem most of the time. That problem is adequate access to be able to use the resources of the Internet.

With the Internet comes many wonderful resources, but there are things to consider.

Digital footprint use, Skills that are transformational, and ..with the technology comes

a difference in privacy.( Electronic Foundation)

New technologies are radically advancing our freedoms but they are also enabling unparalleled invasions of privacy.

Your cell phone helps you keep in touch with friends and family, but it also makes it easier for security agencies to track your location .That can be good. That can be a problem.

internet-of-things

Your Web searches about sensitive medical information might seem a secret between you and your search engine, but companies like Google are creating a treasure trove of personal information by logging your online activities, and making it potentially available to any party wielding enough cash or a subpoena.

If you search for a medical subject, you might then get ads or information about that subject.

Searching for recipes online? Maybe your “smart” refrigerator has information to share about the food you use? Or could use.

The next time you try to board a plane, watch out—you might be turned away after being mistakenly placed on a government watch list, or be forced to open your email in the security line.

 

National and international laws have yet to catch up with the evolving need for privacy that comes with new technology. Several governments have also chosen to use malware to engage in extra-legal spying or system sabotage for dissidents or non-citizens, all in the name of “national security.”

Respect for individuals’ autonomy, anonymous speech, and the right to free association must be balanced against legitimate concerns like law enforcement.

National governments must put legal checks in place to prevent abuse of state powers, and international bodies need to consider how a changing technological environment shapes security agencies’ best practices.

The internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.[1] In 2013 the Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things (IoT-GSI) defined the IoT as “the infrastructure of the information society.” [2] The IoT allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure,[3] creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit.[4][5][6][7][8][9] When IoT is augmented with sensors and actuators, the technology becomes an instance of the more general class of cyber-physical systems, which also encompasses technologies such as smart grids, smart homes, intelligent transportation and smart cities. Each thing is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system but is able to interoperate within the existing Internet infrastructure. Experts estimate that the IoT will consist of almost 50 billion objects by 2020.[10]

For information about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States check out the EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense project.

                            Is there Room for Both Privacy and Security?

Security concept: Privacy on digital background

Security concept: pixelated words Privacy on digital background, 3d render

Some people think the path for more security is that you  PAY for it.

 Read this article in Forbes.

Internet companies collect abundant information about people’s online activity. They use this information to determine people’s interests and shopping profiles, and then make money by selling personalized “behavioral” ads.

The FCC is not too happy about this barter in people’s information. It cannot regulate the likes of Google and Facebook (they are not communications companies), but it is proposing new rules that would apply to companies that come under its purview – Internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.

One of the proposed regulations is entirely unobjectionable but also entirely useless. It would require better disclosure to consumers: the FCC wants every Internet company to clearly explain to people what information it collects and sells.

 

The writer says:

Disclosure is a great idea, but it has a fatal flaw. It doesn’t work. Do you know any one who ever reads the fine print? Disclosures have been tried in every consumer market, and failed miserably. I co-wrote a book titled “More Than You Wanted to Know” that shows how spectacularly disappointing disclosures are, and why we should not expect them to be more successful in future regulation. Despite great hopes that “simplified” or “smart” disclosures could funnel people into better decisions, the evidence shows that even truly simple warnings are ineffective. This sobering fact is equally true for Internet privacy: disclosure and warnings about data collection are not read and do not change people’s behavior.

MORE THAN YOU WANTED TO KNOW cover

 Here is what one Samsung has to say. Most products will be web-connected by  2017.
I always think about a movie I saw when I have to use Fedex. People were making money a cent at a time.. don’t you think that the disclosure length generates money, no matter how many times you have read it. I think so.
It would be nice if, the administrators in a school, the school board and the community featured an event to explain to the their public in their learning landscape how they are preparing for the Internet of Things. Of course some schools still are lacking the Internet.
 You may have noticed that I did NOT talk about schools and sensors and smart machines.
That’s a whole new conversation to be had.
One wag commented welcome to the smart era, where your things spy on you!?!?!