Waking up to New Risks

In some ways we saw this coming,  risk was increasing, and that risk was coming from within in things we had specifically built.   Our internet of things

Deep Insecurities: The Internet of Things Shifts Technology Risk
By Samuel Greengard
Communications of the ACM, May 2019, Vol. 62 No. 5, Pages 20-22
10.1145/3317675

It is human nature to view technology as a path to a better world. When engineers and designers create devices, machines, and systems, the underlying premise is to deliver benefits. The Internet of Things (IoT) is certainly no exception. Smartphones, connected cars, automated thermostats, smart lighting, connected health trackers, and remote medical devices have made it possible to accomplish things that once seemed impossible. Everything from toothbrushes to tape measures are getting "smart."

However, at the center of the tens of billions of connected devices streaming and sharing data lies a vexing problem: cybersecurity. It is no secret that hackers and attackers have broken into baby monitors, Web cameras, automobiles, lighting systems, and medical devices. In the future, it is not unreasonable to assume that cybercriminals could take control of a private citizen's refrigerator or lighting system and demand a $1,000 ransom in bitcoin in order to restore functionality. It is also not difficult to fathom the threat of a vehicle that won't brake, or a pacemaker that stops working due to a hack. Hackers might also weaponize devices and take down financial systems and power grids.

The thought is chilling, and the repercussions potentially far-reaching. "All these devices, which now have computing functionality, affect the world in a direct physical manner—and that just changes everything," observes Bruce Schneier, an independent computer security analyst and author of Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World (W. W. Norton & Company, 2018). "Today, computers can actually kill you."

Adds Stuart Madnick, John Norris Maguire Professor of Information Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, "We are entering a dangerous period. We have to wake up to the risks." .....