Internet of things set to make safer devices for tomorrow

Recent cyber attacks harnessing everyday devices such as cameras, video recorders, printers, routers and speakers are a wake-up call to the hidden dangers of the Internet of Things.

The problem for the device makers, though, is that few are well equipped to tackle the unfamiliar task of foiling hackers.

For a sense of that challenge, take AV Tech, a once proud giant among CCTV camera makers whose 1990s building in a Taipei suburb hints at the gap it must overcome between hardware factories of a decade ago and those of today.

AV Tech, which made the 2008 Forbes list of companies to watch, has seen competition from China shrink its profits to about a tenth of what they were then. Like its peers, AV Tech has moved its products online, connecting its cameras and the digital video recorders that store the footage on to the Internet so users can access them remotely. But such companies are not well schooled in cyber security, leaving these devices wide open to hackers.

“The harsh reality is that cyber security is not even on the radar of many manufacturers,” said Trent Telford, CEO of Covata, an internet security firm. “Security will eventually become more of a priority, but it may well be too late for this generation of IoT users.”

Up to 30 billion devices are expected to be connected to the Internet by 2020 — all potentially vulnerable.

The danger was highlighted when hundreds of thousands of consumer devices were harnessed recently into socalled botnets, launching attacks on target websites, including PayPal, Spotify and Twitter. Cyber security experts say this is just the beginning.

They have since found new versions of the malware designed to find and infect poorly secured devices. Botnets could also be used in advertising fraud and blackmail, according to Daniel Miessler of IOActive, an internet secu- rity consultancy.

Flashpoint, a cyber security consultancy, said parts of the botnet used in last month’s mass attack were used this week to launch denial of service attacks on the campaign websites of both US presidential candidates, though neither site appeared to have been knocked offline.

Its main goal, says founder John Moor, is to simplify guidance so engineers actually read it. The foundation is releasing its first best-practice manual, condensing a 300400 page industry document to just 30 pages.

“The challenge is more than the technical challenge” for these companies, said Moor. “You can put in security features, but do you have the right processes in place, are you doing the right things?”

For AV Tech, improved security may prove to be a way to differentiate its products from Chinese competition. REUTERS In a direct threat to Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, social networking giant Facebook is experimenting with a job opening tab on its business pages. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch: “Based on behaviour we’ve seen on Facebook, where many small businesses post about their job openings on their page, we’re running a test for page admins to create job postings and receive applications from candidates.”

The new feature is not only a threat to LinkedIn but developers likes Workable and Jobscore that build “Jobs” tab applications that businesses