What is IoT?
When Googling this term, the results can be very confusing. IoT stands for “the internet of things”. The definition is “the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.” Billions of devices around the world are connected to the Internet and so they use Internet of Things. This blog post is designed so that anyone with no technical knowledge of IoT can develop a general understanding of how data is being used and distributed through IoT devices.
The internet of things consists of basically anything that is connected to the internet. It is made up of devices.
The concepts of IoT were first introduced in the 1980s and 1990s; however, the technology was not yet advanced enough to support and execute this idea. Processors that were smaller, efficient, and powerful enough to spread IoT information from devices to the Internet were needed. The creation of RFID tags and IP addresses allowed us to finally begin to use the Internet of Things.
The name, Internet of Things was not actually used until 1999. An early example of Internet of Things happened at Carnegie Melon University. A Coke vending machine was connected to the Internet so that programmers could check if there were any drinks in stock.
Devices using the Internet of things are all around the entire world. There seems to be more devices connected to IoT than the earth’s population.
“From connected cars to traffic lights, home security systems, connected toys and smart speakers, the IoT market has grown for some time and is due to reach 31 billion connected devices by 2020 and 75 billion devices by 2025. The future of IoT devices certainly signals more connected things — billions more.”
— “The future of IoT miniguide: The burgeoning IoT market continues” on Cisco
Examples of IoT
While the concept may seem a bit complex, Internet of Things affects all people’s daily lives in some way or another. With most devices and applications requiring Internet connection, just about everything and everyone is interacting with the Internet of Things. As a matter of fact, we are constantly contributing data to the Internet of Things!
Smart homes are an example of IoT. Home systems that allow the user to control heating, lighting, and sound systems from the internet. A light in a room of your house can be turned on with an app on your smartphone. Or maybe you can adjust the temperature of your air conditioning/heating with an app.
Wearables like fitness wrist bands that keep track of your health and daily activity use IoT. If you go for a jog, the fitness watch will keep track of your heart rate and distance traveled. These statistics are then sent up to the cloud, and you can then access an analysis of your workout on an application on your phone.
In phone navigation, maps often report a traffic jam, a police officer monitoring speeding, or if an accident has occurred. A witness or law enforcement may report and accident, this information is distributed and then seen by all navigation users on their map.
The above examples are pretty common but did you know there are now even smart refrigerators? This is application is a great example of how IoT use is changing our world and the convenience of technology. These new appliances monitor the contents of a refrigerator to analyze what products are in or out of stock. It can even sense if empty bottles are inside of the refrigerator. Some smart refrigerators will even automatically order the product online if you run out of it.
A beneficial use of IoT can be found in the medical industry. Home medical machines collect a patient’s health information and statistics and sends them directly to the hospital. This allows patients to be cared for remotely, while remaining under observation of medical professionals.
IoT is also useful for Machine Learning. Machine learning helps computers run programs and analyze data without human aid. By sharing information collected from the Internet of Things to the AI machine, it will require less human programming.
How does IoT work?
While real life examples make it easier to understand, the technicality of IoT can be a bit mysterious. It is actually pretty simple to understand, and the whole process takes place in about four steps. To begin, sensors collect data from the user and environment. Your health tracking watch senses your pulse, your phone looks at something from the camera, or your home device listens to your command. These sensors will pick up any changes on whatever they are monitoring.
Next, the information from the sensors must be connected to some sort of WiFi, Bluetooth, WAN, or cellular networks.
Once the data is sent to the cloud, the next step is data processing. It is processed and analyzed. Ideally the data can be processed quickly to return an immediate response or action based on the information. For example, a home air conditioning device monitors the temperature, and if that temperature gets too high, it will send a signal to the device to take action.
The information is then distributed to other devices or applications that are connected. This final step is the user interface. If a change has been made, the network will send the information to the mobile IoT device or application.
Privacy and Security Concerns in IoT
The Internet of things has security issues because of the ability of hackers to tap into informations.
AT&T’s Cybersecurity Insights Report surveyed more than 5,000 enterprises around the world and found that 85% of enterprises are in the process of or intend to deploy IoT devices. Yet a mere 10% of those surveyed feel confident that they could secure those devices against hackers.
— “The security and privacy issues that come with the Internet of Things” on Business Insider
The use of IoT creates many privacy issues as well. There is so much information collected and stored by the Internet of things. There are often user agreements attached to products that use IoT. Many of them are probably storing more information about the user than the user is aware of. In most shops or public spaces there are now security cameras, and many of these cameras are constantly collecting data from customers. Constant data collection brings up privacy concerns for many users. On the other side, all of this information can help security notice crimes that are missed by the human eye. It also helps companies collect data to better market their product.
All of this information so readily available makes it easy for hackers to prey on users of IoT. With all of someone’s home functions being connected to the Internet, a hacker could easily tap into someone’s coffee maker, home lighting, or sound systems. This can become more serious, for example, if someone decides to hack into a household’s IoT operated home security system. Perhaps a hacker could figure out someone’s schedule from their “fitness tracking watch”. Or maybe an IoT travel or navigation application would let a criminal hacker know that the home owner is not around.
A Federal Trade Commission report entitled “Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World” found that fewer than 10,000 households can generate 150 million discrete data points every day.
— “The security and privacy issues that come with the Internet of Things” on Business Insider
As the use of IoT devices increases, new opportunities for hackers to attack are created every day. Users should always keep in mind that their personal information is constantly being collected and stored while using Internet devices.
Future uses of IoT
Considering that IoT has only been around for a few decades, it is bound to expand exponentially in years to come. According to this article, “The internet of things devices such as machines and sensors are expected to generate 79.4 Zettabytes of data in 2025 which is predicted by IDC (International Data Corporation). Also, IOT will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 28.7% over 2020 t0 2025. According to the projection of the statista Research Department, 75.44 billion devices will be connected with the IOT worldwide by 2025. IOT internet technology is the next major step in making the world a connected place.” (The Future of IOT: 4 Predictions about the Internet of Things). With these statistics of growth in IoT, it is not unreasonable to believe that home device user’s will one day be able to control every aspect of their household with their smart phone or voice. Should the internet ever disappear, the loss of IoT may make life more complicated. In the mean time there are so many conveniences we can enjoy because of the Internet of Things.
