14 DAY TRIAL // The Internet of Things is not secure. If you don't believe us, then ask the FBI. Besides the hacks we reported on, like electric skateboards, fridges, baby monitors, sniper rifles, gas stations, and smart cars, there's nothing better than an infographic to get a grasp of the bigger picture.
According to Computer Science Zone, there are around 4.9 billion connected smart devices in use in 2015. This number is going to skyrocket to 25 billion in the next five years, a number which translates to 2.5 IoT-enabled devices for each person on Earth.
Taking into account that a simple sensor implanted in a cow's collar to transmit medical information to farmers sends over 200 MB of data in a single year, this means the Internet of Things is leaving huge amounts of data online that hackers could easily pick up on.
So, if a smart device generates so much data, and their total number is going to grow five times, this only leaves us to wonder about how safe these devices are.
With data breaches growing by the year, in number and size, IoT devices will slowly become the target of hackers, either for blackmail and extortion or just for nuisance.
Even if security experts have been sounding the alarm on this topic for quite some time now, unless government agencies get involved, it looks like companies will continue to ignore common security practices just for a quick buck.
