Internet of Things: Security concerns and Application

The Internet of Things is getting bigger both in terms of technology and in application. But so are the ‘concerns’ about an increasingly connected world. Social media is littered with people talking about IoT and these conversations have yielded some insights about what the public thinks of the IoT.

Argus Insights analyzed more than 2.3 social media comments about the IoT since the start of 2016, and found out "concerns" and "real world applications" to be the two biggest topics of conversation in its report.

Cyber security or the lack of it and Big data were the most discussed applications and concerns, which also happen to be two of the biggest challenges in implementing new IoT technologies. Ever increasing connected devices are generating tons upon tons of data which is obviously resulting in disturbing questions about securing that amount of data against hackers.

Other popular topics included wearables and the cloud, the report noted. The conversations on social media were generic, as less than 10% of comments analyzed mentioned a specific company. This indicates that the IoT is still in nascent stages because no company has been able to solve these problems and truly open the doors for widespread IoT implementation.

Argus noted the market is more focused on how to solve the problems than who will solve them. Some of the top brands mentioned in IoT discussions were Google, Amazon, Intel, Nest, and Cisco.

Certain hacks help draw media attention to the dangers involved with vulnerable IoT devices, but they don't illustrate all the ways that hackers can use these vulnerabilities in the real world. Hackers could potentially crash a compromised car, but they are more likely to exploit IoT devices to gain entry to corporate and government networks and databases.