Week 04 - Smart Technologies in a Cutting Edge World

The theme of week 4 is Smart Technologies in a Cutting Edge World.  We'll be taking a look at what can we do to protect ourselves as common devices, from thermostats and baby monitors to light bulbs and toy dolls,  become digitally connected.

Learn about:

• The Internet of Things (IoT)
• Privacy and the Internet
• How to recognise a phishing email

Thanks to smart phones / tablets, Internet of Things devices and social media we are more connected then we've ever been.  These connected devices can make our lives much simpler; for example, having your lights automatically activate as your phone recognizes when you get close to home. However, these devices come with their own risks. In this week we help you understand what those risks are and what you can do to secure these devices, your home, and your family.

Check back through the week as we will be posting resources all week long.

Want to know more about cybersecurity in the workplace?  The Security Awareness team has a series of short seminars that they will present to your team in your office.  Email securityawareness@royalroads.ca for more information. 

Further Reading

What is the Internet of Things? 

Google searches have been filled with questions about the internet of things. What is it and why does it matter? Is it safe? Is it even real? This article from The Guardian has some answers: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/06/what-is-the-internet-of-things-google

Targeted Advertising

Check this out.  It's an excellent example of Facebook and tracking  and a funny story as well.  Definitely worth the few minutes you'll spend reading it. http://mysocialsherpa.com/the-ultimate-retaliation-pranking-my-roommate-with-targeted-facebook-ads

Be Mindful of How Connected You Are and How Much Information Is Shared

The Internet of Things is an interesting concept and appeals to many, but with that connectivity comes a concern - how much personal information is shared and who can potentially have access to it? Are you comfortable having your personally identifiable information being compromised by poor security practices? While the designers and engineers of smart cars, TVs, fridges, and toys may be exceptionally good at what they do, what is their expertise and responsibility when it comes to information and confidentiality?

Late last year, VTech (maker of educational toys/devices) came under fire for their cavalier attitude towards a security breach that exposed information from their database: names, addresses, passwords, email addresses.  

VTech security breach details

VTech absolves itself of responsibility for personal data they stored

In other words, they changed the Terms and Conditions of your usage of their services to absolve themselves of any responsibility for lost/stolen data, which includes data on your children. And in the second article link, you'll note they want to branch out into the home security area... is that reassuring to you?

Internet-connected Devices Part of Massive Attack

According to a blog post, tens of millions of connected devices were part of a 'botnet' that caused a massive denial of service attack last week:

Welcome to the Internet of Evil Things

Quote from the article:"[the botnet]... leverages the horrible security decisions made by a handful of manufacturers of Internet-connected devices". Even if the security weaknesses are fixed in new releases of hardware, a large number of devices already exist - with possibly no means to fix them, leaving it up to the internet service providers and network owners to try and mitigate the effects.