The internet of things is very exciting.

Enjoy the excitement. It is amazing.

A few years ago, a friend had an exciting idea. It was on the edge of the internet of things. Diana came to me because she remembered our talking about a simple electronic device called a HouseGuard. This conversation was at a party up in the mountains where the device was designed. The HouseGuard was a temperature sensor built with a modem. It called the rental agency and reported the temperature to the prevent costly water damage when pipes froze. HouseGaurd predated the Internet of things. Its communication was point to point.

At its core, IoT is simple: it’s about connecting devices over the internet, letting them talk to us, applications, and each other. From <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/06/what-is-the-internet-of-things-google>  The internet of things is different than point to point communications, because it is not direct communications between devices.

Diana’s idea was to create Door Sentry device with a camera and a phone app that would allow parents to see who was at the door when kids were home alone. The data from the camera would be transmitted through the internet. Diana’s door sentry device would be an internet of things device. The home Security industry was already heavily investing in the home door watch business, so we let the idea go. But these internet cameras, and there like are vulnerable on several levels.

It hearkens the days of discovery of three or four hundred years ago. Like sailing ships and the maps with areas marked there be dragons. Today’s internet of things is sailing on dangerous waters. Unlike a point to point communication IoT devices, like DVR, thermostats or even smart cars communicate via the internet. The signals from the device like all information on the internet travel from point to point using Domain Name Servers to find the end point. Before the video of your front door gets to your phone it travels from server to server getting to one that can connect it to your phone.

There are dragons, on the map of the internet of things, that such video or other data travels. But people don’t have to be at risk if there is a moment of caution regarding IoT devices. What is one to do about such dragons so not to be burned?

1. Make sure that the device has been tested by a third party authority.
2. Make sure the device manufacture patches the firmware
3. Make sure the device manufacture patches software.
4. Make sure it communicates using encrypted data using valid SSL certificates.

Enjoy the excitement, but make certain that simple steps are followed to ensure your devices are safe. Test (IoT) devices regularly. That they are fully patch and use the latest security methods to secure the data stream transmitted.