In the world of telecom, a concept known as the “Internet of Things (IoT)” is starting to take root, by becoming a major selling point with both telecom and broadband carriers. IoT is simply where everything is connected to the Internet in order to make your life easier. One popular application of this is traffic lights. As you may have seen in the commercials for these, this is where a traffic light system is connected to high level servers, in order to gauge the flow of traffic and to increase or decrease the timing of the traffic lights, correspondingly.
However, as we become more connected with the Internet, there are also stronger security concerns. The first major telecom carrier to take notice of this is AT&T. According to the Vice President of IoT at AT&T, Shiraz Hassan, “Security is obviously top of mind for our customers and we designed solutions with multiple layers of security–especially with the Internet of Things–by securing devices at the network layer where they are not visible to the Internet . . . We have the ability in the IoT space to provide private IP addresses to the devices that can be dynamically or statically assigned and we can also layer on software security via VPN.” (SOURCE: https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/at-t-cisco-say-security-remains-key-concern-internet-things).
One such security countermeasure being used is that of wearable devices. In these particular cases, a person can prevent another, third party from taking pictures of them without their permission. Other major broadband carriers are also jumping onboard with various new security features for their IoT offerings. Two such carriers are Cisco and Clear2. Clear2, for example, now utilizes what is known as a “Hybrid Cloud Structure.” With this format, Clear2 now has full control over the IoT features it offers, while at the same time, avoiding the Security risks posed by a “Public Cloud Infrastructure.”
On the other hand, Cisco is more focused upon new attack vectors posed to the IoT, such as microcontrollers. According to Jason Houx, a Security Engineer for Cisco, “If you look at what happens in the IoT space and you have sensors and microcontrollers that are running small amounts of code, but if they are IP enabled you have a whole different attack vector that is capable of being amplified.” (SOURCE: https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/at-t-cisco-say-security-remains-key-concern-internet-things).
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