Ride the Lightning

Murder Via the Internet? Anything is Possible in an IoE World

December 4, 2014

As we move closer and closer to an Internet of Everything (IoE) world, it appears that we are resigned to the notion that murder via the Internet is just a matter of time.

As a Computerworld article discussed, it really doesn't matter whether you use the Net to fly armed drones in a terrorist attack, to change the settings on an insulin pump or pacemaker, or to overdrive a furnace until it starts a fire. To say nothing of hacking into Internet connected cars.

Cybersecurity experts have even speculated that hackers may compromise medical devices and then extort money from victims to return devices to their normal settings.

Companies have been fairly quick to recognize the dangers. This year, the Industrial Internet Consortium was founded by IBM, HP, GE, Microsoft and Toyota, among many others to work on – and hopefully resolve – security issues resulting from IoE.

The earlier example of using an Internet connected furnace to start a fire could, for example, be solved if the electric utility is set up to act as a managed service provider, or quasi-firewall, and take corrective action if a power use anomaly is detected.

I will take no joy in writing a "First Murder By Internet" story – but I fully expect to have to write that story one day.

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