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Assignment 1 – Internet of Things
Introduction: I have recently been recruited to IoT systems Ltd to advise the technical department within the company on their current security and burglar systems in place. The company I currently work for wishes to find out if you could benefit from the implementation of IoT (Internet of Things) devices in the running of your day-to-day business, and as a specialist in this area, I will provide all the details needed to make an informed decision as a business. IoT services and devices provide a platform for innovation. However, they also come with many security issues and risks that can be exploited for an individual's benefit, such as financial or personal data gain to manipulate an individual. Different Sectors within IoT: The IoT industry is a vast, complex industry that has various sectors within it. In this specific instance, I will be comparing the industrial transportation and home sectors to provide a good comparison of the instances in which IoT devices can be used. Simply by using these two industries, I will be able to compare various devices and analyse their characteristics, principles, applications, and purpose within the IoT industry. In addition to this, by comparing these devices and industry applications, you as the organisation will be able to make a justified decision on where you want to implement these IoT devices within your specific security sector and along this demo realise the benefits that come with these technologies. IoT Devices in the Home Sector: Down to the plethora of IoT devices within the home sector there are many examples in which we can draw from. Having this kind of variety when trying to figure out whether the implementation of IoT systems will be beneficial for your company, is extremely useful and will allow us as a company to come to a more defined conclusion on how the IoT devices used within this industrial sector link to your company's specific security sector. Purpose of IoT devices in the home sector:
The implementation of IoT devices within this sector is all about having control over the environment in which someone lives in. These devices help individuals to go about their everyday lives and speed up the process of some tasks by automating these everyday processes. IoT Devices in the Transportation Sector: In comparison to that of the home sector, I personally believe that the IoT devices within the transportation sector will be more limited than the examples we can draw from in the home sector. Nevertheless, I see this as an interesting sector to research, and we will find out about more key differences within the sector and be able to identify whether the transportation sectors niche IoT systems can be beneficial in how the company manages the security side of its business. Purpose of IoT devices in the transportation sector: Compared with the IoT devices in the home sector, the IoT devices used within the transportation sector are far more niche and purposeful, thus meaning they have more specific use-cases and can be applied to a random number of transportation vehicles to aid the performance of these machines or better the experiences of those who use public transport. The following purposes convey these differences in detail, comparing each sector to one another. The purpose of different IoT devices: IoT Device No.1 - Biometric/Remote Smart Lock – Home Sector The purpose of this device: First off, an example of a home device within this industry is a smart lock. These devices provide the purpose of security to people's households and allow them to gain access to these households simply by using a biometric print, application, or smart key. These biometric IoT systems can provide an individual with a purposeful, real-life application of accessing the household when necessary and sometimes on demand. This specific IoT device has been applied within many different facilities including businesses, households, and a range of different sectors, including the likes of biometric server rooms, technology centres etc... With these systems being used in industry, it is clear to see how they have possible applications across the world within many different households and industrial settings. Furthermore, these devices can be used throughout the entirety of a person's household, enabling security and authentication to be at its most secure level possible when trying to access specific rooms. Although, these devices can be very expensive to implement throughout a household and it will require a lot of setting up to ensure security is efficient enough to prevent intruders.
IoT Device No.2 – Smart Farming GPS (Tractors) – Transportation Sector The purpose of this device: Like the autonomous vehicles, smart farming boosts the performance in which farmers can carry out their daily work tasks and makes their day-to-day life flow far more efficiently. The IoT devices built into these farming vehicles grab the GPS location of the vehicle and automate the process of farming, meaning the farmer can relax whilst the task is carried out and allow the vehicle to follow a designated, pre-set path. Furthermore, there are other peculiar purposes in which IoT is used within the agricultural industry. These important devices can also measure the soil moisture, chemical readings and help predict how the future weather may affect the growing of their crops and make a justified decision on when they should be harvested depending on this. This information collected can then be used to calculate future scenarios that the farmer or other farmers may encounter and make the timing of their farming tasks far more specific and accurate than if they were to purely guess without the help of these clever IoT devices. On the other hand, these little GPS devices can be used to protect prized assets that the farmers may have, including valuable equipment such as tractors, machines and many other items. This ensures these products are kept as safe as possible, and remain safe on the farmers property, with thieves also realising these devices are being implemented into these machines it will often stray them away and stop them from even trying to steal the equipment. Purpose Comparison: Depending on the sector in which an IoT device is within, it can significantly affect the purpose they serve. For example, this can be shown with the substantial differences between how the biometric lock serves the purpose of protecting facilities and other areas of interest, whereas the smart farming devices optimise the workload for hard-working farmers to make their day easier. Firstly, looking at the home sector’s two options, I personally believe that the smart fridge application serves more of a purpose in today’s age. This is due to how many individuals have a fridge, and the added benefit of not having to constantly check the fridge for a lack of items is extremely beneficial to automating this side of life. However, on the other hand, I see the use of biometric smart locks being a more adapted and purposeful feature as time moves on as more individuals consider the privacy and security of their households or facilities, but not necessarily an entirely purposeful IoT device as of now. In addition, these devices still have many security flaws that need to be fixed before mass adoption, as they don’t entirely serve their intended purpose yet. Secondly, comparing the transportation sector with one another, they are very similar in nature and serve a very similar purpose of automating the task that an individual must undertake and removes the room for human error. Furthermore, the automation of these tasks not only allows the individual to relax more, but
also creates a plethora of machine learning opportunities for the IoT development team and enables them to implement the learned data from these devices to better the other devices they may release. However, out of the options, I personally see the GPS feature implemented in the agricultural side of this industrial sector to be the most beneficial and purposeful out of the options available as it protects the valuable agricultural equipment as well as allowing for optimal farming use, and critical machine learning data to be collected to improve the use of IoT devices in the future vehicles to be developed. Possible applications for different IoT devices: Following on from the purposes of different IoT devices, I will be diving into the possible applications in which IoT devices can be deployed into. This will typically include the scenarios or other IoT devices these industry sector specific IoT devices can be used to aid the completion of tasks these IoT devices are meant to carry out and allow us to see how different IoT devices communicate with one another. The following devices include the possible applications of these IoT devices, in the range of sectors previously mentioned. IoT Device No.1 - Biometric/Remote Smart Lock – Home Sector The possible applications of this device: Looking at the future of smart locks there are many different applications in which this futuristic technology can be deployed in. First off, these biometric devices can be used to communicate with many other IoT devices, for example, individuals are able to control their smart locks simply through using their mobile devices and accessing the locks current status to find out if their facility is currently protected. In addition to this, these devices can also be used to alert the user when a potential intruder has accessed the facility to prevent theft of any kind. Secondly, these security devices also allow for real-time monitoring, this means not only is the AI built into these devices collecting useful information to prevent future theft, but also allows the individual to directly access the live feed in which the video is capturing the environment from, however, the imbedded camera feature is only within certain devices, and is not included in all biometric devices at this present moment. Thirdly, these devices can connect with other IoT devices that an individual may have, to make the security even more robust and requiring multiple levels of authentication to access a certain area and verify specific access to locations through their application. Lastly, these devices can also auto-lock themselves when an individual leaves a certain area, removing the need for a person to be directly present and stops the overarching worry that you haven’t locked the door once you are away from your household or facility.
within and around the vehicles. The devices that enable these algorithms to effectively keep passengers safe are proximity sensors and high-tech cameras. Secondly, again, through these machine learning algorithms autonomous vehicles can use these algorithms to identify faults within the system and directly alert the individual who owns the vehicle simply by alerting the application and alerting them when they next enter this vehicle. This can prevent severe damage to these vehicles over time and is a great example of IoT being used to reduce the impact on everyday activities and accidents that may occur on the road. Finally, like other systems of IoT within this industry, autonomous vehicles contain GPS tracking IoT devices. These devices are used as an application of these vehicles, simply through pinpointing the GPS of these vehicles to ensure safety and allow the owners of these vehicles to know exactly where their vehicle is present and whether their vehicle has been entered without the owner’s knowledge, and thus take the necessary course of action dependant on this. IoT Device No.2 - Smart Farming GPS (Tractors) – Transportation Sector The possible applications of this device: Smart farming is an up-and-coming method of effectively using IoT resources to maximise the efficiency in which farmers can generate an income, and in doing so, there are various IoT applications within this sub-sector that aid this process. First off, and financially the most important, all farming equipment with IoT devices embedded within them, will often come with smart farming GPS trackers. These trackers enable the owners of the expensive machinery to always know the whereabouts of their equipment and ensure safety precautions are implemented to minimise theft. On the other hand, these GPS devices are often used to route plan to relive the stress on the farmers, due to the autonomous capabilities of these devices, and only intervene on the day-to-day work when human intervention is necessary. Secondly, these GPS devices go together with active livestock monitoring, enabling farmers to have consistent updates on the movement of their livestock and whether the CO2 emissions driven through transportation, keeping and culling this livestock has on the environment, and allows the farmer to make an informed decision on the needed management on the livestock. Finally, these IoT devices can alert the farmer or owner of the farming facility of the active temperature or soil moisture directly of their land to their application. Through using these alerts, the farmer can actively monitor their crops performance and whether the use of additional water is necessary dependant on the current temperature. However, it is apparent that GPS systems lack in the added functionality of other IoT applications, simply down to the fact that these devices are usually built for one purpose only, this being GPS monitoring. Applications Comparison:
Through this examination of how different IoT applications can affect the functionality and ease of use of these IoT devices, it is clear to see why individuals are keen to learn how these IoT devices can benefit their businesses and their workflow. First off, comparing the two options within the home sector, it is clear to see that this sector has multiple applications in which these IoT devices can be deployed into and proves how these IoT devices go together with other IoT devices to perform a better overall experience for its users. Moreover, looking again at the two options, it appears that the smart fridge currently has the most purposeful real-world applications in comparison to that of the biometric security locks. This is down to the fact that these devices are consistent throughout many households and are often used far more frequently than that of a smart lock, thus meaning there are far more situations in which these IoT devices can be deployed into. On the other hand, these biometric smart locks do come with their own purposes, in terms of real-world applications, and the way in which an owner can have single-handed control over their locking system is extremely beneficial and removes the need to constantly check whether your household is locked and safe. Secondly, the addition of real-time monitoring will completely reshape the way in which you can ensure safety throughout a household, simply through using the inbuilt sensors and cameras that come with these smart IoT devices. These biometric devices are also champions when it comes to the additional software that come with these devices, as they are a far more intuitive application, than that of the support currently being held for smart fridges. These additional features are what makes the biometric smart lock so unique and as a result they will most definitely have more applications in which they can work with as time passes on. Secondly, comparing the transportation sector, it is definite that the GPS smart farming IoT devices have varying levels of support in terms of applications, however, autonomous vehicles make use of far more IoT devices than the GPS systems can, simply down to the fact that GPS systems typically have one sole purpose only, that being to track an object or machine to prevent theft or to simply be monitored, making this application far more advantageous. Moreover, these autonomous vehicles have the plethora of GPS systems, cloud- centric databases, sensors, cameras that aid it to become a more purposeful application in real-world activities. These autonomous vehicles are often utilised through their owner’s mobile phone, where the owner can monitor their vehicle, edit the temperature of their vehicles, remotely lock or unlock their vehicle and many other options are available for the user to utilise. This increases the use- cases in which these vehicles can be deployed into, and often improves security in comparison to normal vehicles, due to the user being able to be notified and the owner being able to monitor the live situation. However, the GPS smart tracking system is very key in its application and allows farmers to keep up to date with their equipment in a functional manner. I am sure that as time progressing, more application support will arise for this IoT device and far more IoT devices will be used within these machines to create a better all-rounded experience for farmers.
and artificial intelligence, they can pinpoint faults within the system themselves and bring the owners attention towards this matter, meaning faults can be resolved quickly and there is less time and money spent on ensuring these devices are functional, or stops the need to replace the entire machine itself. IoT Device No.1 - Autonomous Cars (Tesla) – Transportation Sector The principles behind this device: In terms of principles behind the development of IoT devices, the two sectors share key similarities, however, they aim to target these principles in a different manner or through a different scenario. The principle behind autonomous vehicles is to provide safety to the owner of the autonomous vehicle, but also to other drivers, whether they have autonomous vehicles or not. These vehicles provide more safety using algorithms and calculations than that of a driver itself, as these algorithms can’t be affected by drink, tiredness, illness, reactive speed and all other human faults. Furthermore, the IoT devices embedded within these vehicles were developed with the principle of information collection and machine learning by using the vehicle’s sensors and other IoT tech. This was put in place to further help predict unfortunate situations and collisions that occur on the road and enhance the safety of all road users. In addition to this, through these errors made by the driver or the autonomous system, the algorithms within these IoT devices can better themselves and build for better future safety when on the road. Finally, like the smart fridges within the home sector, there is an integrated IoT device that can pinpoint hardware and/or software failure directly within the vehicle and alert the vehicles manufacturers dedicated mechanics if necessary. This can reduce time and cost for the consumer and was developed in principle of furthering the road safety that owners of the vehicles get. IoT Device No.2 - Smart Farming GPS (Tractors) – Transportation Sector The principles behind this device: The principle behind GPS finding IoT technologies in the agricultural industry is down to optimising the daily life in which a farmer endures, and ease the complication of the tasks, to a more manageable level. Furthermore, these GPS IoT systems can actively ping their current location, and thus allow farm workers to carry out tasks in a whole variety of different scenarios and settings, including foggy, rainy and other poor weather conditions. These embedded GPS devices can use the constant ping to the satellite to automate the agricultural machinery’s workload and reduce the stress on the farmer themselves. Moreover, another principle behind the developments of this IoT device was to robust security for those who have agricultural machinery, this is because by using GPS signals, the owner of these devices can actively monitor the locations
of these machines and thus report any suspicious activity as and when they wish. In addition to this, a core principle behind the development of this IoT device is to improve the future of farming through the collection of important data based on weather patterns, temperature and other forms of measurement. This will eventually lead to these devices not having to be monitored whilst running, and track all these developments of change themselves, whilst the farmer can just relax. Finally, due to the repetition of this workload, these GPS IoT-based devices can learn specific behavioural patterns, and in principle, repeat these workloads without needing to be dependent on a human driver. This can significantly reduce the time spent on tedious workloads and ease these farmers lifestyles even more so. Principles Comparison: After comparing the IoT devices from both sectors it is clear to see that they all share the principle of collecting data, from previous and current scenarios to better shape the experience for the owners of these IoT devices, as these devices make progressive changes moving forward. Over time, these developments lead to far more robust IoT systems and a thus a more intuitive way of using these devices as time reflects development of these devices. First off, the principle to be compared is the data collection from these IoT devices, to inform and improve algorithmic data. Throughout both sectors, as previously stated, this principle is seen in both, however, arguably more so in the transportation sector. This is down to the sheer capacity of algorithmic data needed to automate these devices to create a controlled and safe environment when out on the roads or using automated GPS farming, and thus this principle is seen more throughout this sector. On the other hand, especially with the smart fridges learning capacity, it is clear to see this principle of data collection is apparent and helps automate the daily life of individuals through progressive machine learning, technically meaning the smart fridge can mimic and learn the owners’ habits to ultimately provide a better experience and create healthier eating habits. Through both sectors the IoT self-learning devices prove useful, and the principle behind their development is more than beneficial to the development of future IoT technologies. Secondly, another principle to be compared is the security of these IoT devices and how this principle is implemented into each sector, this security principle also leads back to the use of GPS tracking to protect equipment. Out of the two devices within the home sector, it is easy to see that the biometric smart locking systems make the most use out of the security principle and ensure individuals can remotely access their house lock and monitor an active situation as and when they wish. Also, these biometric smart locking devices will typically have GPS functionality activated, where individuals can monitor the current location of the biometric devices and monitor whether they have been tampered with.
First off, and most known, these smart lock devices are alternate in manner to that of traditional locking systems and don’t require the individual to have the key constantly on them allowing the facilities in which these locks are present, to be opened through biometric or remote access security. Secondly, these devices will more so than not have the feature of two-way communication by using the tech of video cameras and microphones. These features robust the security of these devices, as not only will you be able to monitor the current situation, but also interact with whoever is at your door. Thirdly, and again to robust security measures, these devices often come bundled with additional alarms and anti-tempering technology, this stops individuals from trying to access the facilities and often scares them away due to the sounds they can protrude. These bundled IoT devices inside a device that is already a part of the IoT industry leads to a very functional and purposeful device. A final characteristic of these devices is their emergency setting, that if pressed via the app or triggered through tampering, the local authorities are automatically contacted and are shown the address this has occurred at. This can prevent significant theft and deter many thieves away if they are aware that police may get them. IoT Device No.2 - Smart Fridge – Home Sector The characteristics of this device: As opposed to the other device in this sector, smart fridges have many components and characteristics that make it the IoT device it is, making for a very interconnected device. First off, and most notably, as these devices are a part of the internet of things, they communicate between the internet and cloud services of the web. This allows the smart fridge to differentiate from a traditional fridge and access the wide web’s useful features. Secondly, these devices typically come equipped with a fascinating characteristic of a two-in-one display and mirroring glass feature, this allows owners of these IoT devices to not only interact with these machines and browse the web for needed ingredients but also to actively see what is inside their fridges when they wish. Moreover, and very peculiarly, as this device can access the internet, it can also access many other forms of applications such as Spotify to play and listen to music, access video players such as YouTube and Netflix, all whilst the individual is in their kitchen. This can relieve boredom that some experience when preparing or cooking food and bring a subtle distraction into the equation. Finally, these devices can also have in-built microphones and operate with a voice assistant such as Alexa or Google, this is a very individual and a new characteristic for kitchen appliances but can really optimise the daily life of individuals. This is because tasks such as filling water, storing and releasing ice
or replacing items can be controlled and automated simply by using voice command. IoT Device No.1 - Autonomous Cars (Tesla) – Transportation Sector The characteristics of this device: On the other side of sectors, autonomous vehicles are a very up and coming IoT range of technologies, and thus have many new characteristics to the way they communicate through IoT. First off, although being developed in many standard vehicles, is the adaptive cruise control characteristic being implemented in smart vehicles. The smart IoT devices situated in these vehicles can detect the speed limits around them and automatically alter the speed in which the vehicle is travelling at to accommodate the owner of these vehicles, and ensure the driver is kept at the relevant speed limit. Also, these IoT device can detect other vehicles on the road and adapt the speed to match these vehicles to avoid any collisions from occurring, further reducing the stress on the driver. Secondly, and a very newly implemented technology is the lane guidance characteristic, aided using external sensors situated around the vehicle. This technology provides safety to the owner of the smart vehicle through automatically adjust the speed the vehicle is travelling at, or through lane positioning to reduce the harm done to the planet and remove the attention that a driver must keep whilst on boring motorway trips. Thirdly, another peculiar and very specific characteristic of these vehicles are their ability to recognise blind spots around the vehicle, and thus provide the full 360 degrees of vision needed to see these spots, all by using the sensors and cameras situated around the vehicles. Finally, as the vehicles can go forward in automated fashion, they can also use their embedded IoT devices to reverse the vehicle through rear-park assist. This removes the need for the driver to do a series of checks before parking the vehicle and leaves it in the hand of the AI. Moreover, to aid this process, these vehicles can use the real-time GPS IoT devices to guide the vehicle into the reversing position and reduce the room for error even more. IoT Device No.2 - Smart Farming GPS (Tractors) – Transportation Sector The characteristics of this device: The smart farming industry of GPS vehicles has six main characteristics that make it the IoT device that it is, these include, sensing technologies, software applications, communications systems, telematics positioning technologies, hardware and software systems and finally data analytics. First off, the core characteristic to these machines are their surrounding sensors. These sensors enable these smart farming vehicles to gain information about the soil, light, weather and other forms of natural matter that affect the ability to
However, an external characteristic that does show similarity between both devices is their way in which they communicate with the internet. Both devices can be connected via an ethernet connection to provide a solid, strong connection and less points of failure, however, both devices can also connect to the internet via a remote Wi-Fi connection. This provides both devices with a diverse range of connection methods and benefits each device in carrying out their smart features. Focusing back on my original opinion, between these devices it is evident that the smart fridge IoT application is the one with the most characteristics within the sector. This is thoroughly backed up with the plethora of other actions that this device can carry out, including accessing the web though the in-built web browser and the smart item-specific feature of a two-way mirror to view the items within the smart fridge, to check if extra stock is needed. This provides alternative measures in which you can use the IoT device for, and thus makes it far more versatile in characteristics compared with the smart lock. Alternatively, within the transportation sector, the IoT devices characteristics are far more versatile across the sectors devices and thus allow for more comparison. Looking at both IoT devices, it is clear they also share similarities in the ways that they function and showcase themselves. The first similarity between these devices is their ability to use a cellular connection to ping their current GPS location, this is a useful characteristic in deterring potential thieves from the valuable vehicles and allowing the owners of these vehicles to monitor their location. On the other hand, this cellular feature differentiates from the home sector, as within the alternate sector for those IoT devices to function, they had to have the characteristic of receiving Wi-Fi signals or being hooked up via ethernet. Whereas, this sector most definitely doesn’t rely on this, and rather relies on a strong cellular connection for the IoT device to function accordingly. Moreover, another similarity of characteristics between these devices is their ability to use their on-board sensors to filter out and analyse data, this in turn leads to greater results whether smart farming or driving autonomously and as this data is analysed, these IoT devices become far better than beforehand. Finally, and a big differentiating characteristic between these devices is the way in which they utilise their data after it has been analysed. On one hand with the smart farming devices the data is collected over time and used to follow set routes of farming or driving, alternatively, with the autonomous vehicles, this data is then applied into an artificial intelligence format in which the data can be used for machine learning purposes and eventually solve other problems. Thus, adding to its ability to become much smarter over time. These developments then lead to other pathways in which the IoT device can develop, such as analysing other vehicles, seeing people etc to ultimately form a safer way in which people commute, and in doing so, separates itself in nature compared with any other IoT device in the sector, and building on top of its already impressive characteristic set.
Benefits and Risks of different IoT devices: After thoroughly diving into each individual sector and analysing the core characteristics, purposes, principles and applications that make up the internet of things world of devices, I will finally be looking at the benefits and risks that each sector can bring and finding out how each individual IoT device can differentiate. Furthermore, by analysing each sector for its benefits and risks, we will be able to come to a more informed decision of which IoT sector will aid your company’s development of security systems and alarms, more so than the alternative. IoT Device No.1 - Biometric/Remote Smart Lock – Home Sector Benefits: First off, through owning a smart lock, many individuals are given the peace of mind of simple security. As not only will they be able to monitor the current security status of these IoT devices, but if motion is detected within the smart lock’s visual capability, then the owner is immediately alerted. This can also be a bonus if you are expecting visitors, and you can directly communicate with them through the in-built mic. Secondly, and most obviously, by having a smart lock as your security device you remove the need for a key to access a facility. This means that if you were to misplace this key, you could order a new one and let the smart lock company know of this occurrence, making the prior key useless, and in the meantime, you will be able to control your facility from the application. Down to this extra layer of security, it often deters thieves from even trying to access your facilities and allows you to control the security status of your facility or house wherever you are in the world. Thirdly, compared with traditional keys, as remote or biometric smart locks remove the need for a physical key presence, the owner of the facility has the quickest and easiest forms of access currently possible. This means that in the state of an emergency you can unlock the facility with ease, removing the need for finding a key. This ease of access also translates into security, and these IoT devices can also self-lock depending on if they notice unauthorised individuals or whether the lock has been unlocked for a specific amount of time, it will then auto-lock. Finally, an extreme benefit to these IoT devices is their ability to hold and store many different sets of permissions. These smart locks can be individually programmed for everyone that visits your facility, allowing certain people to certain sectors, whilst also blocking other people whom you don’t want near a specific room or area. This adds to more robust security intervention on facilities and protection on your prized goods. Risks:
Through doing this, the benefit is that in the case of system failure with the machine, the individual is automatically alerted of the situation, as opposed to not knowing this was on-going, and potentially damaging your machine. In addition to this, you can also control and automate functions such as ice cube creating and water dispensing from the comfort of the app, adding to the intuitiveness of the IoT device. The final pro to this device is the major impact simply owning one has on reducing the harm done to the environment. This occurs due to two reasons, the smart fridge will control the amount of food within the household and reduce the amount of food waste generated, but also, through many great energy saving methods that preserve the worlds electricity and cut down on costs as well. Both methods are executed through the machine learning code within the smart fridge, and thus these benefits can be reaped. Risks: A major risk you take when investing in these IoT devices is their up-front costs, due to collection of smart features that are bundled with these devices, it makes it extremely hard to reduce the costs of these materials when selling these devices to customers. Although these devices cut down on electricity usage and aid the preserving of the environment, it can be more costly in the short term to own a smart fridge. Secondly, down to these IoT devices being new to the scene of technology, it is often questioned whether they will bring enough resourcefulness into people’s lives to warrant the purchase, and many question whether these devices will stay around. This is because the evolution of technology is so progressive, that it could well be that these smart fridges are a thing of the past within the next five years as they become more and more obsolete, and another technology that aids food stock will be developed to take over its place in the market. Moreover, owning these devices can be a real time waster. This is because in order to add stock to fridge and alert it of a new top-up, the individual is required to manually input each item they have purchased, which can be a long, tedious process that many wish to avoid. Lastly, these devices are extremely well known to be a direct ‘back-door’ to an individual’s network, and thus there are some serious security concerns through owning these devices. Furthermore, these security concerns are escalated when people understand that hackers can target people information and collect potentially harmful data simply through these devices being within a household. In addition to this, it is also common for these IoT devices to miss security patches or crucial updates, that again can be exploited if not dealt with accordingly and all types of physical and virtual damage can be dealt. IoT Device No.1 - Autonomous Cars (Tesla) – Transportation Sector Benefits:
A significant benefit to owning these vehicles is the fact that they remove the chance and room of error that is created by an individual. This is done through algorithmic sequences that can’t be affected by differentiating emotions, also, these emotions can affect an individual’s ability to ‘see the road’, whereas a self- learning sequence can identify millions upon millions of possible scenarios at a given time and take the right course of action dependant on this. In turn, this leads to greater road safety levels, drastically reduced injuries and deaths, whilst reducing the number of anxious drivers on the road. Moreover, as the machine is computing all the possible scenarios and routes to take, it is near impossible for road users to get angry at one another. This is simply down to the fact that smart vehicles can communicate with one another and make driving around far safer than if carried out by individual drivers. Secondly, these vehicles remove the barrier to entry when accessing vehicles and opens the possibility up to disabled and elderly people having access to vehicles, without posing any unnecessary risk to other drivers. This can make those less fortunate more comfortable, as they are allowed access to everyday necessities without feeling as though they are restricted. Although these devices have many great benefits to everyday individuals, they can also aid the functioning of police departments. This is because many traffic incidents will be minimised through the technology, and thus will allow these officers to focus on more demanding crimes, without having to worry about handing out speeding tickets. Finally, many assume that having an autonomous vehicle will automatically mean that your time of the road will be spent at lower speeds and making commutes far harder and long winded. However, it can be quite the opposite, with many reporting of increased arrival on destination times and down to the less traffic incidents occurring through no human error, all traffic would be free flowing, thus not hindering anyone’s daily activities. Risks: Again, like with all IoT devices, it becomes very apparent that they are susceptible to hacking. This becomes increasingly more concerning when you consider that a potential hack could allow these individuals to control your vehicles and do some serious damage to those around you. In the same measure, many are concerned of the constant tracking with these vehicles, and how if hacked, anyone could know your location. This data could also be sold to cyber criminals, and they may be able to find out your home address, who you visit and cause harm through this information. Moreover, these devices have significant potential to replace people’s jobs. As company’s would much rather opt for increased road safety and lessened financial costs, than to continue paying for delivery drivers, potentially affecting thousands upon thousands of people who generate an income this way. In addition to this, owning these vehicles also affects those who own them as gradually over time, people will become less dependent on their own driving skillsets and become far more reliant on the machines to act on their behalf. So
