Introduction
Internet of Things (IoT) is a term coined by Kevin Ashton, executive director of the
Auto-ID Center, in 1999; but it is only since the last few years that IoT has
become a big and inseparable part of the world of Internet and technology. It has
taken inter connectivity to the next level by independently interconnecting
devices and not just people through devices. Digitization connected people and
systems, but IoT connects our belongings in a seamless fashion to alter the way
we live and the world as we know it.
IoT is now embedding itself in not just our lives
but our culture as well. For example, you can sync your workouts on your smartphone,
change the temperature of your home from the airport, update your navigation
maps from your garage, monitor pollution levels and weather from your couch and
the instances can just go on. Basically, you can interact with a huge variety
of devices opening up the possibility of interconnecting anything from the
simple to the complex. It literally means that you can now remotely control,
monitor and sense just about everything.
Defining IoT
But what exactly is IoT? It is basically
an elaborate network of interconnected objects, mainly devices, as well as
people, all linked to the internet and interacting with each other, exchanging
data through sensors and embedded circuits.
According to research giant Gartner, by
2020 IoT will comprise 26 billion devices, from 4.9 billion in 2015. The McKinsey
Global Institute predicts IoT could
have a total economic impact of up to $11 trillion by 2025. With all this
projected growth, it seems like civilization is on the cusp of an IoT tsunami.
IoT Impact
IoT has already changed the way we
live. In several countries products have transformed into products-as-a-service
with connected homes and industrial machinery, appliances, etc. In developing
nations like India, the concept of Smart Cities has been
introduced where devices and the data they emit is expected to make buildings,
electricity, public safety, transportation, education, water and waste
management, etc. more interconnected and smart.
The advantages of IoT are varied and abundant. Increased productivity, better and
smarter business operations, better decision-making due to data and expansion
for almost any business are some of the primary advantages. For businesses, IoT enablement will eventually become a
must considering the continuous refinement and upgrading of the business model,
products, service and customer experience due to largescale data analysis and
related insights.
However, it will also mean that
infrastructure will need better monitoring and security will become the main
point of contention.
Cyber Security
More devices and increased
networking means more risks of cybersecurity,
hacking and privacy concerns. Remember the big hack of US shopping chain Target
wherein personal information including 40 million debit and credit card numbers
of 70 million people was stolen? The entire theft was possible as hackers
gained access to the shopping chain’s network via the internet-connected HVAC
(heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems.
According to many experts, the current
IoT systems are being built with too
little regard for security. IoT will have be built like IT systems with best
security practices including employing a risk-based approach, regular software
updates, regular backups, multi-factor authentication, privileged user monitoring,
etc.
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