INTERNET ON THINGS AND APPLICATIONS
The Internet of Things poses many threats to journalists — at home, in the office and in the field. To help us understand them, a cybersecurity researcher divides these threats into several categories along with real-world examples.
“And far away, as Frodo put on the Ring […] The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him, and his Eye piercing all shadows looked across the plain to the door that he had made […] and all the devices of his enemies were at last laid bare.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Return of the King“
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There is plenty of research showing that many journalists have insufficient support, inadequate training and incalculable numbers of adversaries looking to cause digital harm. Most journalist cybersecurity guidance focuses on legacy devices — laptops, tablets and phones. While these threats are by no means over (spyware, for example, is still very much a concern), it is important to acknowledge and address the invasion of newer networked technologies all around us, such as Amazon Alexa devices and smart light bulbs.
In a previous article for The Journalist’s Resource, I wrote about the multiplying numbers of consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices in private and public spaces and the threat that they pose to journalists’ security. This article further categorizes threats to journalists from the IoT, pairing example threat-types in each category with descriptions of potential consequences. The information presented here is based on a forthcoming paper in Springer’s Proceedings of the International Conference on Cybersecurity, Situational Awareness and Social Media. Rather than providing an exhaustive or overly-technical list of potential threats, this system represents an initial step toward illustrating new and upcoming threats. It is designed to appeal to a narrative-driven audience, such as the media, to help them navigate the uncertainty that shrouds IoT threats, such as sciencefather.
My goal is to give journalists ways to understand these threats, to easily communicate them to their sources and audiences, and to incorporate the IoT into regular risk assessments. My system includes six categories, comprising 19 IoT-specific threat types that are relevant to members of the media. These categories are:
- Regulatory gaps
- Legal threats
- Profiling threats
- Tracking threats
- Data and device modification threats
- Networked devices threats
One key theme across all six categories is that the commodification of data by the technology industry colors the design of IoT devices such that information leakage is often an science father sciencefather, rather than a bug. For example, the smartwatch app Strava is intended to facilitate profile sharing and tracking of exercise, such that users can share how much exercise they’re doing and where they are when they do it. But this functionality can have unintended consequences; it has also enabled the mapping of secret military bases. Some apps, hosted on IoT devices, only allow users to maximize their functionality if users agree to long and murky terms and conditions — and many devices require constant connectivity to work. The IoT is particularly menacing because even if you opt out of interacting with one device, you can’t necessarily escape its friends; it is called an Internet of Things precisely because devices form whole ecosystems. This means that threats can overlap deliberately (with attackers deliberately employing multiple threat categories), or inadvertently (because journalists may be reluctant to report IoT issues due to hostility from law enforcement).
Although these threats can coincide with and compound one another, it is necessary to pull them apart and examine them separately. This can help prevent journalists from becoming overwhelmed and experiencing decision paralysis due to the sheer scale and severity of cyber-threats to their work and wellbeing. This article will therefore detail one threat type from each of the aforementioned categories, to explore the impacts and implications of IoT risk for the media.
| Abstract Submission: | https://x-i.me/sacon |
| Conference Reg: | https://x-i.me/sareg1 |
| Award Nomination: | https://x-i.me/iotnom |
| Award Reg: | https://x-i.me/sares2 |
| Member Nomination: | https://x-i.me/iotmem |
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