A short note on the Internet of Things
What does IoT refer to? What functions do these devices fulfill? What is needed for a device to be considered IoT? What drawbacks can they have? What is being done to solve them? In the following short story, I show you a tiny part of a very long topic.
What is the internet of things?
The internet of things is everyday devices connected through the internet. These objects not only have connectivity but also sensors that allow data to be collected and shared with other devices and systems. Usually, the data recorded by these objects is about how the objects are used and the environment in which they are. This enables data-driven decision-making to meet specific needs with minimal human intervention.
These smart devices fulfill at least one of these functions:
- Monitor: Determine what is happening in the environment.
- Control: Perform an action based on data.
- Optimize: Optimization of resources.
- Automate: Schedule routine or boring activities.
To carry out these functions, devices have three basic parts:
- Sensor or sensors: They can determine and measure physical or chemical quantities, which are transformed into electrical signals. Some examples: temperature, humidity, proximity, movement, speed …
- Controller: It is the device that receives the electrical signal from the sensors, makes decisions, and activates the actuators. It is the brain of the device. Some examples: Arduino, Beaglebone, Raspberry Pi …
- Actuator: Performs an action according to the decision of the controller. Some examples: Display, screen, resistors, fans …
The objects with the sensors are connected to an Internet of Things platform, via the controller. This platform integrates the data from different devices and applies analyzes that allow you to select the relevant information. With this information, patterns are obtained, recommendations are made and decisions are made. As I said before, this analysis allows you to optimize and automate tasks.
The boom of these devices has been presented by some specific conditions, such as:
- The creation of compact and longer-lasting batteries.
- The improvement of the connectivity to have constant access to the internet allows the transfer of data efficiently.
- Increase in the availability of Internet of Things platforms in the cloud.
- Sensors are more sensitive, more powerful, and cheaper.
- Conversational artificial intelligence, which allows direct interaction with the user based on natural language (Natural Language Processing).
However, these are aspects that must continue to be improved.
Examples of IoT applied to industry
In the following image, you can see some examples applied to industry, in which the IoT has been used to automate mechanical tasks, verify safety, or climate conditions.
There are also examples in our day-to-day. In homes, we can find solutions that make a task easier: Roomba vacuuming robots or Kolibree toothbrushes that allow children to learn to brush. Smartwatches such as Apple or Garmin allow us to monitor the heart rate or the number of steps taken. Some others like Hidrate Spark remind us to drink water and keep track of what has been consumed.
Security and privacy issues of IoT
But not everything is perfect, privacy and security are the great challenges of IoT. It is estimated that by 2025 there will be more than 30 billion connected IoT devices. This large volume of smart objects raises several challenges. On the one hand, the volume of data that is generated is overwhelming and for the moment, integrating big data into current systems is challenging. On the other hand, there are latent concerns about the security and privacy of being connected 24/7.
The reason for this concern has to do with the fact that a device with weak protection can be used for cyberattacks and expose user data by having a vulnerability point. And because it is an internationally interconnected network, this can be a potentially dangerous point and a key cybersecurity issue.
Cybersecurity covers three main topics:
- Confidentiality: In order to keep data private and accessible only to authorized users. Minimize the disclosure of confidential information.
- Authentication: To verify that the data has not been tampered with. This is currently a limited field because only protection from a vulnerability such as denial of service (DoS) or replay attacks is allowed.
- Access: Only authorized users can use data, infrastructure, and computing resources. Unauthorized access to one of the controllers makes the entire system insecure over the interconnect.
Cybersecurity has come a long way in recent years, but with it, cybercrime has evolved using more destructive and sophisticated methods, with extensive access. Some weak points to emphasize are:
- Attacks can be carried out remotely.
- There are many devices from different manufacturers, with different software and different capabilities. Heterogenicity of the system.
- Lack of security-focused professionals who securely manage the network.
- The computational resources of the devices are limited (storage, 8-bit microcontrollers).
This last weakness is of special interest since smart devices do not have the same capabilities as traditional computers. For this reason, the protocols traditionally used on the internet are not designed for these devices. This is why groups like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) have made an effort to establish lighter protocols, such as IETF 6LoWPAN that provides a template for secure wireless communications, IETF CoAP designed for constrained device networks, or IETF RPL, an optimized IPv6 routing protocol.
Additionally, several solutions have been proposed to date (taken from Tawalbeh et al., 2020):
- Use encryption techniques in the cloud and the device for data protection.
- Increase the frequency of software updates.
- Improve monitoring tools to detect suspicious activity.
- Involve and train users on safety and possible points of failure. Making users aware of these vulnerabilities helps decrease some potential leak points.
Due to the increasing use of IoT in industries and homes, the issue of cybersecurity and privacy is of great importance. It is, therefore, necessary to invest effort in achieving the development of security protocols for devices with limited computational resources. More emphasis needs to be placed on the need to provide access security mechanisms that are easy to develop and implement that allows even people with basic knowledge of security protocols to properly configure their devices. All this, in order to guarantee safe and responsible use of IoT devices.
References:
Tawalbeh, L. et al. (2020). IoT Privacy and Security: Challenges and Solutions. Applied Science 10, 4102. Doi:10.3390/app10124102
Lin, H., Bergmann, NW. (2016). IoT Privacy and Security Challenges for Smart Home Environments. Information 7, 44. Doi:10.3390/info7030044
Clark, J. (2016). What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/what-is-the-iot
Oracle. ¿Qué es el IoT?: https://www.oracle.com/co/internet-of-things/what-is-iot/
Red Hat. (2019). ¿Qué es el Internet de las cosas (IoT)?: https://www.redhat.com/es/topics/internet-of-things/what-is-iot
Internet de las Cosas. (2016). 01 — Curso internet de las cosas — Introducción: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-MQj1kD9-I
