How the 'Internet of Things' Will Be Impacting Your Company

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become nearly omnipresent, as billions of connected devices become an increasingly prevalent part of our everyday work and personal lives. As the network of objects equipped with sensors, software and connectivity grows, so do questions about security and ethical use. The question remains for business leadership: what is the state of IoT, now and ahead?

Network Issues Abound

A decade ago, there were fewer than 10 million objects in the IoT. That number has skyrocketed — analysts now count connected devices in the tens of billions. The sheer volume of connected objects means vast numbers of connections, and increased strain on systems. The bandwidth required to support all those connections challenges today's wireless networks.

Those networked objects generate petabytes worth of data that needs to be stored and analyzed. That means a growing need for storage, whether via data centers, cloud-based solutions, or a combination. With massive increases in connections, network performance will require new performance monitoring platforms that scale accordingly.

Regularity of Data Transmission

With so many new objects, there are going to be new data transmission patterns. Many objects, whether connected to consumer products or business tools, transmit infrequently, often in short bursts at irregular intervals. Polling network rates, typically done in five-minute intervals, may not account for the short-burst patterns of IoT objects. New, high-frequency polling tools — some at second-long intervals — may be necessary to secure proper network performance.

Ethical Considerations

• Legal considerations. There is still little legal structure for holding manufacturers liable for harm done to others by connected objects. The technology has simply evolved faster than policy.
• Choice. Take self-driving cars: what are the ethical considerations of an automated car that needs to choose whether to swerve into a group of pedestrians or strike a car in front of it?
• Physical and cyber. Fields like medicine and wearable devices are further blurring the lines between the physical and digital worlds, with few ethical standards around privacy and use of the data these interrelated systems generate.

Security Gaps

As the number of objects expands, so too do the threats. Security researchers routinely find dozens of vulnerabilities among connected objects ranging from wheelchairs to thermometers, and hackers have launched massive distributed denial-of-service attacks via connected devices like baby monitors and webcams, preventing consumers from accessing major websites and streaming services. The threats of DDoS and ransomware attacks are significant, as are more serious attacks involving smart cars, homes, and buildings.

The IoT provides a dizzying array of new opportunities to simplify work and life, but the technology is well ahead of the policy and security considerations, which are still evolving.