Justin Grammens
SECURITY! SECURITY! SECURITY! was by far the most used word in the Internet of Things ecosystem this past week. With DDOS attacks coming from devices that are old and busted, it never the less raised the stakes when we have 2 massive attacks so close to each other. The industry is waking up to new types of security attacks, which I believe is a good thing.
I also cover a few fun stories both on an autonomous beer truck, healthcare, consumer IoT and a really fun Kickstarter project. Hope you enjoy this issue and please tweet it to your followers!
News
IoT's Killer App Is Not Home Security
As quoted, "A lot of the IoT’s potential has yet to be explored, but to be taken seriously for critical tasks it will all come down to trust. Users must remember that IoT devices are legitimate computers whose inner workings are typically well out of our control."
Robo Beer Run: Self-Driving Truck Delivers Budweiser
Great story on the future of autonomous vehicles. Contrary to what some might think, the long haul trucking business is the first place that we'll see these being deployed. Drivers don't have a whole lot to be worried about anytime in the near future.
Q&A: Intel's PC Chief on Drones, Cars and the Death of Mobile Atom Chips
Excellent long form Q&A article with Intel's PC chief. The article covers a lot of ground on Intel's strategy for IoT and specifically how it fits into the consumer market and overlaps with Drones, Automobiles and their Atom chip.
Sponsor
Analytics and Mobile Apps For Connected Products
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Security
Webcams Caused Friday's Internet Outage, But Not Your Webcam
As I referenced at the beginning of this issue, initial reports that YOUR IoT devices are what caused the DDOS attacks are completely false. Companies do need to take this attack very seriously, but this article keeps things in perspective with regards to the root cause and what products ultimately contributed to the attack that happened.
7 Security Lessons The Video Game Industry Can Teach IoT Manufacturers
This article has some really good points about how game consoles have the been the attempted ( largely unsuccessful ) focus of attacks since they were first put on the Internet. Companies building IoT solutions should probably take notice and try to learn from them.
Can We Stop Connected Gadgets from Taking down the Internet?
While this article gives a bit of a sour taste while reading it, I still am very optimistic and as a response to to the headline... I believe that the answer is YES! We can stop the connected gadgets. It might take a little time, but it will happen.
100% Of Reported Vulnerabilities In The Internet Of Things Are Avoidable
Another article covering the news of many known vulnerabilities that are slipping through the cracks in massive push to bring devices to market.
Justice Dept. Group Studying National Security Threats of Internet-Linked Devices
There's a number of concerns today around the security of having devices that could be compromised to cause chaos and damage. A statement from the article covers this, "The U.S. Justice Department has formed a threat analysis team to study potential national security challenges posed by self-driving cars, medical devices and other Internet-connected tools, a senior official said"
Healthcare
How the Internet of Things Is Redefining Healthcare
As a follow-on to a previous article, this shows a number of examples on how IoT/Connected product make sense and how they will help both the patient and the companies building the solution.
What Can IoT Do for Healthcare?
This article covers a few examples of how IoT technologies can lead to a better patient experiences or outcomes. I especially like how they list some of the ways in which the internet of things is revolutionizing healthcare.
Consumer
Why The Consumer Internet Of Things Is Stalling
Great article on why IoT is not catching on in the consumer market like it has been in the B2B space. wAs the article states, "The potential power of IoT is truly awe-inspiring, but in order to boost sales and drive demand beyond the early adopter set, we need to stop making toys no one cares about and instead work on building simple solutions to real, everyday problems for real people." I couldn't agree more.
Development
21 Open Source Projects for IoT
This article was published last month, but I think it gives a very good view into what projects are available for developers to leverage as they build IoT solutions using Open Source Software.
Crowd Funding
MODI: Create Anything You Want with Robotics of Things
MODI is modular devices for your DIY IoT and robotic creations. No soldering, No electronics knowledge needed. Just Connect and Build.