Can The Internet Of Things Survive Amidst A Pandemic Of Hacking? By Jan Barbosa And Featuring Katie King, MBA

We are living in the age of the Internet Of Things , the age when an ever-expanding list of our devices collects and exchanges vast amounts of data (our very own personal data) that is willingly (or unknowingly) shared to the cloud where it is analyzed to our benefit, so that we can know how many steps we took during the day, how long we drive every day or from which locations we connect across the city.

Yet, there lies a danger beneath the commodity of storing and giving away our information across networks, the dreaded HACK.

Hacking attacks have been in a frenzy lately, the Sony Hack, PlayStation Network Hack, Icloud leaks of celebrity photos and even the wearable health-oriented device "Fitbit" have been hacked providing information on the wearer daily habits.

Cybersecurity evolves rapidly to foil these daily attempts to erase, steal or ransom data every day, but sometimes the hackers win and precious information becomes part of the open markets. So here goes the question, if the biggest names in the business like Microsoft, Sony and Apple can be hacked, how secure can I be? More so when our common devices like cars, televisions, and refrigerators are becoming "smart"?

To the question of "Can We Survive An IOT Christmas Amidst A Pandemic Of Hacking ?", Artificial Intelligence expert and TedX speaker Katie King, MBA responds: We are living in the age of the Internet Of Things , the age when an ever-expanding list of our devices collects and exchanges vast amounts of data (our very own personal data) that is willingly (or unknowingly) shared to the cloud where it is analyzed to our benefit, so that we can know how many steps we took during the day, how long we drive every day or from which locations we connect across the city. Yet, there lies a danger beneath the commodity of storing and giving away our information across networks, the dreaded HACK. Hacking attacks have been in a frenzy lately, the Sony Hack, PlayStation Network Hack, Icloud leaks of celebrity photos and even the wearable health-oriented device "Fitbit" have been hacked providing information on the wearer daily habits. Cybersecurity evolves rapidly to foil these daily attempts to erase, steal or ransom data every day, but sometimes the hackers win and precious information becomes part of the open markets. So here goes the question, if the biggest names in the business like Microsoft, Sony and Apple can be hacked, how secure can I be? More so when our common devices like cars, televisions, and refrigerators are becoming "smart"? To the question of "Can We Survive An IOT Christmas Amidst A Pandemic Of Hacking ?", Artificial Intelligence expert and TedX speaker Katie King, MBA responds:

Can We Survive An IOT Christmas Amidst A Pandemic Of Hacking? Featuring Katie King, MBA

By Jan Barbosa

Back in 1984, novelist George Orwell’s ominously portrayed a “telescreen” - a TV which constantly monitors its viewers, warning that governments would use technology to cross the threshold into our private world. According to confidential documents published by WikiLeaks earlier this year, the CIA has created its own 21st century telescreen by hacking into smart TVs.

Furthermore, a recent study by the University of Edinburgh has revealed that the increasingly popular Fitbit device, which can calculate steps, calories and sleep patterns, is vulnerable to hackers. Despite its end-to-end encryption, where messages are scrambled and ultimately deciphered, the research team were able to access personal information from the devices as it was sent to the cloud.

With the Christmas season around the corner, there will no doubt be demand for innovative messaging kettles; rice cookers controlled by smartphones, and shoe insoles connected to map applications which vibrate to direct you.

But the implications for security breaches like this are very serious. For example, hackers could falsify activity records, steal personal data and use it to blackmail users. Worrying examples include hackers who attacked the electronic key card system of a hotel in the Austrian Alps. They have resorted to old-fashioned locks after being forced to pay €1,500 to allow guests back into their rooms. Similarly, last Christmas, hackers used ransomware to take over an American family’s TV, disabling it for four days.

IoT developments such as wearables are exciting but the issue seems to be that the security and privacy lag badly behind. As the Financial Times reported: “The basic vulnerabilities inherent in the internet of things — one of the biggest concepts being pursued in the technology industry — have been known for some time. Samsung even warned customers in 2015 that “if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of voice recognition”.”

The best advice to date is to update everything and unplug things when they are not in use.

Katie King is a TedX speaker and expert on the subject of Artificial Intelligence. Founder of @Zoodikles and @AlinFM, also a consultant for @DigitalLeadersA and @PRCA_UK. As of now she is writing a book on Artificial Intelligence.

Katie King have delivered two TEDx talks, and is a regular commentator on BBC TV and radio.  She is therefore regarded as an expert in the social business, PR and digital sphere, and also a regular speaker on the international circuit at both conferences and Gala dinners.

Jan Barbosa Is a global brand ambassador for beBEE.com, also an Onalytica 2016 Top One Hundred  Augmented Reality Influencer and Interested in Social Media, Influencer Marketing & Artificial Intelligence. 

As a technology advocate, he strongly participates in areas as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Cyber Security.

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