How Safe is Internet of Things?

People are buying internet connected appliances for their own use as they see an increased efficiency and output through these devices in their day-to-day life. Internet has always seem to make the lives of the user easier through connecting to other people by computer or smart phones; now it looks to connect through the ‘Things’ installed in houses, streets, shops, organizations and multiple other places. The range of devices include smart TVs, smart wearables, sensors, smart grid, smart cameras, smart home appliances and many more. As we all know that these devices interact with each other in order to give an individual the desired result so that he/she can take an appropriate decision based on the findings. Every piece of information is recorded through the smart devices which stores it in a manner which can be retrieved later.

Back in prehistoric times when cavemen first ignited fire; must’ve thought, is it safe? Over the years there have been many breakthroughs in day-to-day appliances which have affected our lives and has made the world a better place. We never knew for sure that what is safe for us and what isn’t but we have always learned newer ways to make our lives easier by implementing certain techniques and technologies. When it comes to Internet of Things, there is a lot to learn as we are still learning about the technology and we can successfully apply it our daily routine. There are multiple areas which are poised to be the best places to install a device in order to connect with other devices for sharing of data so that the appliances can serve us. Due to distribution of data to multiple connected devices, some might say the privacy of data goes for a toss. When there are devices installed in various areas which are connected with each other and continuously transfer data, concerns regarding data privacy rise giving birth to data theft which leads to inappropriate use of data.

IoT offers various benefits to consumers by creating numerous ways to interact with technology as the connected applications will offer ease in living while merging the virtual and the physical world by combining the data. There are some concerns which are related to security, privacy and safety of the data created and shared by the Internet of Things. Huge amount of data is created when these devices are interconnected and they interact with each other to combine data for an end result which an individual can use for one purpose or another.

Major Safety concerns in using Internet of Things (IoT)

How Safe is Internet of Things arises concerns regarding the authenticity of these devices are always questioned because they not only collect sensitive data but also transfer it which opens windows for misuse of data as the devices shares observations about daily activity of a person and thus consumers will obviously want data privacy. As IoT evolves, there will be billions of connected devices in the years to come which will generate loads of data. Every device raises a security concern for a business, organization or a house owner because it shows potential threat of data leak through any of the connection which might lead to an attack by cyber criminals. The threats under IoT are broadly classified under these three areas which are Safety, Security and Privacy of data. There have been reports on IoT devices which suggest that attacks through these devices can even cripple systems to cause failure and lack of downtime will lead to loss in business. Since IoT has critical infrastructure components, it makes it a very strong target for attackers and information espionage within organizations. The safety of such infrastructure is critical as it holds important information.

How Safe is Internet of Things privacy is another major concern when these devices carry such important data of millions of citizens. One thing we need to know that IoT is still in development phase and no one has mastered the application of these devices. There can be areas of failures and we are still trying to improve and get things right and so we need to be very observant while these machines act autonomously and generate and distribute our personal data. Last but not the least, security is another major concern and it can collapse your entire infrastructure along with loss of crucial data. It is essential to keep an eye on the devices which are connected and see to it that no on tampers with them. Attackers change functionality of the machines and request them to act in a slick way so that they can change the operation of the devices while not following the device owner’s commands. Attackers fiddle with connected devices to make inappropriate use of the data collected by them.

Conclusion

The rapidly growing trend of IoT devices is catching eyeballs of every citizen as they wish to implement this technology in their day-to-day life itself. But with every technology there is one issue which follows it which is the security measures which needs to be taken in order to smoothly implement and use the technology without harming any individual. How Safe is Internet of Things, is a major question over privacy of user data as well as authenticity of IoT enabled devices.