Some predictions suggest that the world will have more connected devices than people by the end of this year, and more than 20 billion connected devices by 2020. While the world’s level of connectivity may give you a warm, fuzzy feeling it should also indicate the importance of IoT. It’s clear that the Internet of Things can improve our lives and our businesses in many different ways. We have to make sure that IoT connections are secure, though.
The Internet of Things is here
IoT is already integrated into daily life for many people. For example, your phone might automatically connect with your vehicle, and use data from your past trips to improve your driving experience. Most of these IoT interactions are convenient or novel, but they don’t provide any life-changing value.
However, the end goal for the Internet of Things is valuable, meaningful improvements in our lives and businesses.
Making factories smarter
Equipping workers with wearable devices provides could greatly improve the manufacturing process. Workers can receive important updates and alerts and provide valuable information about worker performance. The Internet of Things can do much more than that, however.
Your worker’s mobile devices and wearables would communicate with your machinery. Your machines could communicate with the devices in your warehouse, which communicate with the logistics firm that your distributor works through, etc.
All of these machines and devices are connected through the internet, sharing information wirelessly through the cloud. There’s no other way to connect mobile devices, or connect remotely, but this creates a security risk.
Keeping IoT Secure
The seamless connection and communication between devices is a fundamental part of IoT. There’s a lot of value in this communication, but we have to figure out how to secure the Internet of Things.
We must determine which devices will communicate with one another, and how they will do it. We also have to determine which devices won’t be allowed to connect with networks, and how to prevent it.
That is, we must establish rules for IoT devices. More importantly, we must identify how to keep people’s personal information safe and their privacy intact.
IoT isn’t some distant future technology, or some hopeful sci-fi concept. Connected devices are already becoming an important part of our daily lives. Make sure that your machinery is primed and ready to join the movement, and benefit from IoT.
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