The Future of Connected Devices

In our fourth and final post for October’s Cybersecurity Month we will be talking about the future of connected devices.

Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace.

Forty years ago, the idea of a video phone call to grandmother for Mother’s Day was the stuff of science fiction. How large would this phone be? How much would it cost? Today we keep that same technology in our pocket.

By 2025 there will be an estimated 41 billion devices connected to the Internet. What will the technology look like?

To start with, cloud is now old news. Using someone else’s data center is normal. Now, we are moving past cloud and to the edge. Devices like our mobile phones will be where things will happen. The large data repositories will be in the cloud, but the decisions will be in our pockets (or in our cars).

Self-driving cars are here. Our children’s children will look in wonder at automobiles and try to figure out how we drove those things all by ourselves. Internet-connected trash cans are able to direct sanitation workers on the most effective routes to take. It seems the only limits are our imaginations.

The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1668, the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020. This bill has been developed to create federal standards and guidelines for protecting devices in future. There is concern that technology is outpacing our ability to secure it.

• Will this be enough?
• Will today’s security technology be able to match future advances?

As the future begins to take shape, we will also need to develop self-healing devices. We need to make sure the devices are protected from hackers at design time so that we don’t have to try to retrofit security controls. Let’s ask about cybersecurity when we buy a device, not after it’s hacked.

The future is going to be exciting. Let’s stay safe.