The Great and Powerful Internet of Things

  • Gary Varga - Thursday, February 2, 2017 7:47 AM

    Chris Harshman - Thursday, February 2, 2017 7:05 AM

    So did anyone else see this title and think "The Great and Powerful OZ"?  Seems appropriate to me in a way... the IOT people seem to want you to ignore what's behind the curtain and just focus on the wiz-bang cool factor of what their product does.

    I assumed that that was the point.

    It was

  • "but for the most part, the rush to market meansthat many of the IoT devices sold aren't much better than most of the homebuilt Kickstarter projects"

    Given how corporations view security, I would trust a home built device far, far more than something from any corporation on the market, with the possible exception of Apple.  Not that I think Apple is that great, but I do appreciate them fighting back against the government when it comes to security, whereas all other companies just roll over immediately.

    I don't have to worry that some engineer working out of his garage is going to get paid by the NSA/FBI et cetera to create a back door for them, and every hacker in the world, to break into whenever they want.

    Dave

  • djackson 22568 - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:15 AM

    "but for the most part, the rush to market meansthat many of the IoT devices sold aren't much better than most of the homebuilt Kickstarter projects"

    Given how corporations view security, I would trust a home built device far, far more than something from any corporation on the market, with the possible exception of Apple.  Not that I think Apple is that great, but I do appreciate them fighting back against the government when it comes to security, whereas all other companies just roll over immediately.

    I don't have to worry that some engineer working out of his garage is going to get paid by the NSA/FBI et cetera to create a back door for them, and every hacker in the world, to break into whenever they want.

    If you're a kit builder, purchasing your components off the shelf or online, then most likely China has a back door buried deep in the electronic DNA somewhere.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Eric M Russell - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:55 AM

    djackson 22568 - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:15 AM

    "but for the most part, the rush to market meansthat many of the IoT devices sold aren't much better than most of the homebuilt Kickstarter projects"

    Given how corporations view security, I would trust a home built device far, far more than something from any corporation on the market, with the possible exception of Apple.  Not that I think Apple is that great, but I do appreciate them fighting back against the government when it comes to security, whereas all other companies just roll over immediately.

    I don't have to worry that some engineer working out of his garage is going to get paid by the NSA/FBI et cetera to create a back door for them, and every hacker in the world, to break into whenever they want.

    If you're a kit builder, purchasing your components off the shelf or online, then most likely China has a back door buried deep in the electronic DNA somewhere.

    OK, thanks for pointing out my ignorance. Well, not ignorance as that isn't the right word, I did know what you said is true.  Sigh.  OK I still stand by my lack of faith in corporations, but have to agree that if we are buying parts from corporations, that doesn't make it any better.  So let's say that if the person bought and built everything from scratch...  Kind of like baking.  You can buy a cake mix, you can buy flour and sugar, or you can purchase a farm and raise the chickens (eggs) and grow the wheat.  You just made me realize that when it comes to IOT, buying and assembling the parts is not the same as buying the farm.

    Thanks!

    Dave

  • djackson 22568 - Thursday, February 2, 2017 2:28 PM

    Eric M Russell - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:55 AM

    djackson 22568 - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:15 AM

    "but for the most part, the rush to market meansthat many of the IoT devices sold aren't much better than most of the homebuilt Kickstarter projects"

    Given how corporations view security, I would trust a home built device far, far more than something from any corporation on the market, with the possible exception of Apple.  Not that I think Apple is that great, but I do appreciate them fighting back against the government when it comes to security, whereas all other companies just roll over immediately.

    I don't have to worry that some engineer working out of his garage is going to get paid by the NSA/FBI et cetera to create a back door for them, and every hacker in the world, to break into whenever they want.

    If you're a kit builder, purchasing your components off the shelf or online, then most likely China has a back door buried deep in the electronic DNA somewhere.

    OK, thanks for pointing out my ignorance. Well, not ignorance as that isn't the right word, I did know what you said is true.  Sigh.  OK I still stand by my lack of faith in corporations, but have to agree that if we are buying parts from corporations, that doesn't make it any better.  So let's say that if the person bought and built everything from scratch...  Kind of like baking.  You can buy a cake mix, you can buy flour and sugar, or you can purchase a farm and raise the chickens (eggs) and grow the wheat.  You just made me realize that when it comes to IOT, buying and assembling the parts is not the same as buying the farm.

    Thanks!

    I don't know why, but somehow I feel that cheaper "bare bones" components are probably less likely to contain back doors, perhaps because the profit margin is less, so the design is minimalistic, and also because the small manufacturers are less likely to have an arrangement with the government.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Thursday, February 2, 2017 9:38 AM

    Gary Varga - Thursday, February 2, 2017 7:47 AM

    Chris Harshman - Thursday, February 2, 2017 7:05 AM

    So did anyone else see this title and think "The Great and Powerful OZ"?  Seems appropriate to me in a way... the IOT people seem to want you to ignore what's behind the curtain and just focus on the wiz-bang cool factor of what their product does.

    I assumed that that was the point.

    It was

    And it was a good title.  I know I'm late in just seeing this now, but I find the message to be an absolute truth.  Companies are pumping out IoT devices at a torrid pace because they can.  They have the latest, coolest, shiniest toy and everyone should buy it because of what it can do.  Never mind what's behind the curtain.  Don't think about the implications and just accept that "there are not the droids you're looking for."  There's nothing to see here until some random company closes up shop or posts a disclosure somewhere that gets lost in all the noise of larger disclosures.  It's negligent, pure and simple, to produce devices that are insecure by their very nature.

  • Eric M Russell - Thursday, February 2, 2017 8:03 AM

    IoT enabled clothing when many families are going into debt just paying for their kid's school clothes? :ermm:

    Eric, you said a mouthful there.  A lot of families have a hard time paying for the clothes and school supplies now.  Putting all that tech into T-shirts certainly isn't going to lower the price of anything.

    Eric M Russell - Thursday, February 2, 2017 8:03 AM

    Devices that notify your insurance provider when you walk into that Doughnut shop, so they can adjust your rates appropriately? :crying:
    Smart toilets? Hey, dudes, just give me your email address and I'll send you a photo of my PoS.  🙂

    This reminds me of a 3-episode TV series from years ago called 2057.  The insurance companies used smart toilets to see if people had been drinking.  After one character had an accident in the morning, he ended up in the hospital.  Of course, with all the toilets networked, the samples at the home and hospital were analyzed and it was determined that since they didn't match, the evening sample must have been falsified, so the patient was dropped from the insurance plan immediately.  It was a grim look into one possible future.  BTW, it was made in 2007.

    I don't know if it's available anywhere, but the Wiki page is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2057_(TV_series).

  • David.Poole - Thursday, February 2, 2017 1:15 AM

    Where is IOT on the Gartner hype cycle?

    Technically IoT is entering the "Gen2" phase.  As in  - IoT is so 2014:  now the emerging buzz is about I(oT)2  (Internet of Things to Things).  The sensors don't need to talk back to a centreal location, more and more of them just talk directly to each other.

    It is scary to see how poor some of this stuff's security is.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

  • Matt Miller (#4) - Monday, February 6, 2017 7:51 AM

    David.Poole - Thursday, February 2, 2017 1:15 AM

    Where is IOT on the Gartner hype cycle?

    Technically IoT is entering the "Gen2" phase.  As in  - IoT is so 2014:  now the emerging buzz is about I(oT)2  (Internet of Things to Things).  The sensors don't need to talk back to a centreal location, more and more of them just talk directly to each other.

    It is scary to see how poor some of this stuff's security is.

    Surely that is IoT 2.0 in modern speak?

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • As database professionals we should not feel obliged to "toe the line" or "jump on the bandwagon" when it comes to IoT, Social Media, or even Big Data. Other professions (like science, medicine, law, and government) obviously have many critical pundits within the ranks, and I believe that skepticism and debate help weed out bad ideas and strengthens the integrity of the industry. I believe there are plenty of useful applications for IoT; I just don't think we should allow commercialism and big government to warp our industry into something that doesn't serve the public's best interest.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Gary Varga - Monday, February 6, 2017 8:27 AM

    Matt Miller (#4) - Monday, February 6, 2017 7:51 AM

    David.Poole - Thursday, February 2, 2017 1:15 AM

    Where is IOT on the Gartner hype cycle?

    Technically IoT is entering the "Gen2" phase.  As in  - IoT is so 2014:  now the emerging buzz is about I(oT)2  (Internet of Things to Things).  The sensors don't need to talk back to a centreal location, more and more of them just talk directly to each other.

    It is scary to see how poor some of this stuff's security is.

    Surely that is IoT 2.0 in modern speak?

    Aye it is.  I just prefer the geek notational version 😀

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

  • As far as I am concerned Big Data is a marketing term and a poorly understood one at that.  I've actually had a business person waxing lyrical over their Big Data which was 3.5 billion records of structured data and not very attribute rich at that.  I definitely think that FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) plays a big part in the choices that organisations make with regard to appropriate technologies, architectures and solutions.

    IOT is also at the stage where it feels like it should be something really interesting but no-one is quite sure where the value lies yet.

    Let's suppose that you have a smart electricity meter in your house sending a sensor output every 5 minutes.  In the UK there are around 23 million households.
    23,000,000 x 365 x 24 * 12 = 2.4 trillion records.  It's a big number but with column store technology it isn't that big.
    The stuff that comes out of sensors is disciplined and consistent.  What can someone get out of the information being blasted out by my house?  They can probably deduce that I've got teenagers who consistently fail to switch stuff off.

    It is when a smart meter can be hijacked to do something it was emphatically not designed to do, particularly if one gadget can talk directly to another.  Do we get a SQL Slammer scenario where one vulnerable device compromises devices that should have been secure?  What happens when someone hacks a pace maker or drug delivery system?  There is a market for "chipping" performance cars.  We know that professional tuners are careful to balance the engine output with uprated suspension and brakes but back street guys will happily turn your engine into a grenade.  Are we going to see something similar with IOT devices?

  • David.Poole - Monday, February 6, 2017 11:01 AM

    IOT is also at the stage where it feels like it should be something really interesting but no-one is quite sure where the value lies yet.

    I think there certainly are good uses, but there isn't going to be one great thing. Lots of niche applications are working well, and have been for some time. Certainly the fitness crazy (Fitbit, etc), but better monitoring of HVAC is in use, with learning algorithms to change behavior, not just scheduled settings.  Lots of industrial applications are growing, as are better health monitoring. Farming/ranching are starting to use sensors and data.
    I do think security certainly is an issue, though.

  • I think each application has to be thought through beforehand so that more than data for data's sake is being collected. Also sensors need to be much more reliable. I had to change four sensors on my last car. One (a genuine GM part) only lasted a couple of years and less than 15k miles making it virtually a service part. A fiend's BMW is nearly as bad.

    Also can all this have the opposite effect to what is required. I know a youngster that has a tracker device for insurance purposes. They are so worried about being caught for an indiscretion I feel it affects their driving adversely.

    P.S. Isn't the smart toilet the iPoo  🙂

  • Samsung Smart TV Owner Learning About Majority Of Features From Leaked CIA Documents
    http://www.theonion.com/article/samsung-smart-tv-owner-learning-about-majority-fea-55493
    :laugh:

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

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