How To Build an IoT Kill Switch

The idea of a “kill switch” for machines that cannot otherwise be disabled via conventional means is not a new one, but it is a trendy topic today. Conversations about the future of AI commonly include the word “apocalypse” as machines both big and small are becoming massively more intelligent, autonomous, and in some cases, dangerous to human life.

If you agree with this, you might also agree that it’s worth getting in front of this before your government steps in to “help”. Multiple groups like Google are exploring kill switches from what appears to be a software-centric or even cloud-centric perspective, which is important. However if the single radio (e.g. the wifi radio in your wifi camera) in your IoT device has been hijacked by something like a Mirai botnet, there may be no way to execute the kill switch.

Thanks to some innovations in low power wireless radios, better networking software, and more powerful ARM-based chips, an IoT kill switch is not only viable across a wide range of devices, but it is inexpensive and low hassle. It also need not impact form factor or usability in any meaningful way. Here is our view of the challenges and opportunities with IoT kill switches, which starts with better security capabilities for IoT devices more broadly:

UPDATE: here is the European Parliament calling for kill switches on a certain category of IoT devices.

UPDATE II: follow-up on why kill switches are likely to be a central part of near-term regulatory framework for IoT security.

You can reach me via @patdash7 or via email at pat @ haystacktechnologies dot com.

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