Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images These days it seems like there’s almost nothing that can’t connect to your Wi-Fi network. Smart fridges, smart lights, smart toilets, smart — I dunno — shelves? All of this smart stuff comprises what is known as the Internet of Things, the product sector that adds online compatibility to any traditional product.
But the Internet of Things has downsides too. For one, it’s a privacy nightmare because of how closely it ties into “the cloud.” Most conventional smart devices process requests remotely. For instance, let’s say you turn on a lamp using an app on your phone. You tap the switch on your phone and that request gets sent not to your lamp, but to a remote server run by the light bulb’s manufacturer, and then they tell the lamp to turn on.
On top of that, many devices hooked up to the Internet of Things have poor security, making them ripe for hackers to take advantage of. In 2016, the Mirai botnet caused widespread internet outages after it infected thousands of IoT devices. Shortly afterward, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier wrote, “If we cannot secure complex systems to the level required by their real-world capabilities, then we must not build a world where everything is computerized and interconnected.
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