Buying a Security Risk: IoT Devices

As we all prepare for the holiday season, it’s time for a lot of us to come up with the perfect gift for countless different people. If your plan was to go technological, is it time to reconsider?

Many people have been raising red flags about IoT devices, in particular, especially after the Distributed Denial of Service attacks back in October. The attacks have been widely attributed to “hackers compromising Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as surveillance cameras and entertainment systems inside homes that are connected to the internet.”

In the age of big data, we are accustomed to turning over boatloads of information to the internet every single day—and for many of us every second of every day. Whether we are tracking our steps with a smart watch, unlocking our doors remotely, or even going about our day with our phone’s GPS tracking on, that information is available to be hacked.

And, it doesn’t stop there. Researchers at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have recently demonstrated that existing malware can covertly transform “headphones into a pair of microphones that can then be used to exploit the public.” The implications behind this idea are daunting to say the least.

As noted by Brian D. Wassom, “for advertisers and retailers, this will be a goldmine of information… that can be used to send out even more precisely targeted commercial solutions. Without doubt, those providing IOT services will not only want to recognize who we are, but also to remember where we’ve been. And just like we don online now, many users will consent to their information being collected.”

Myself, I probably will consent to my information being collected, I’m too in love with the idea of my devices being connected, too in love with the possibility that when I walk into a grocery store, my phone knows to remind me of what I wanted to buy… but should I be?

Are you going to pause before buying a new Google Home this holiday? Or will you give marketers (or worse) the ability to track your mother through her brand new Fitbit^®?