The Internet of Things
Your network has been hacked, your data has been stolen and your operations are paralyzed. How did the attackers get in? The web server? A phishing email? No; they got in through one of the “smart” devices operating on your network. This may sound far-fetched, but this is the reality of modern-day cybersecurity with the growing use of network-enabled “smart” devices, ranging from household appliances (e.g., refrigerators, coffee machines, and even toasters) to industrial machines (e.g., those managing inventory, running trucking fleets, etc.).
Estimated to expand to 200 billion devices by 2020, the “Internet of Things” (or “IoT”) refers to the interconnected web of network-enabled devices that can typically leverage data collection to solve new problems.[1] In the business context, this could involve a series of interconnected sensors detecting product levels in a warehouse as shipments are sent and received. In the consumer context, your smart home hub or fitness-tracking wristband would be part of the IoT.
As businesses continue to adopt IoT technology as part of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”,[2] users and producers of IoT devices must address a number of legal considerations related to the IoT and its inherent insecurity—particularly where the IoT collides with the business world and with the personal lives of users of IoT devices.
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