The Internet of Things (IoT)

This term, the Internet of Things, is used to refer to all the billions of devices in the world that are linked to the internet. These devices have been built with the ability to collect and at the same time share data seamlessly. With the development and growth of computer chips that are affordable, it has become easy to turn almost everything small devices to big devices into intelligent devices that digitally can share data and communicate among themselves without human involvement.

The Internet of Things therefore acts as a fabric that merges the digital world with the physical world. Devices that make the Internet of Things can be single small devices you use in your day to day life or they can de large devices which are made of many Internet of Things small components put together.

Examples of devices under the Internet of Things:
A light bulb operated using an android app
Motions sensors
Smart thermostats
Toys
Jet engines and many more
Smart home appliances and electronics

Generally, the Internet of Things can be virtually everywhere including in smart cities which highly depend on technology to run. As you have noted; we have not added your smartphones and personal computers because these are not classified as necessarily being devices under the Internet of Things. This is because devices under the Internet of Things to devices that in a normal sense would not be expected to contain an internet connection plus they are able to communicate and interact with the network without human intervention.

History
The term Internet of Things traces its origin to when the idea of having sensors pus intelligence added to devices in the 1980s and the 1990s. However, these ideas became hard to implement at the time because chips and other technological requirements were not ready. In the year 1999, however, Kevin Ashton came up with the phrase ‘Internet of Things’ some decade away from the implementation of these ideas. Due to the continued fall in the price of adding internet plus sensors in devices, more and more devices are continually being connected with the Internet of things. It is estimated that by the year 2025, around 41.6 billion devices will have been connected to the internet of Things network.

Internet of Things and Cyber Security
Due to the high amount of data they transmit, devices under the Internet of Things have consistently been under threat from cybercriminals. Devices such as webcams, refrigerators, dishwashers, and routers are targeted leading to data breaches. These devices have lacked cybersecurity protocol and hence remained vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This has therefore pushed the governments to start providing guidelines on how to start making these devices more secure. Failure to carefully consider making these devices secure would trigger disastrous ad catastrophic occurrences such remotely taking controls of a driverless car and crushing it.

Advantages of the Internet of Things
Businesses are able to make requisite changes to their products due to the availability of more data. Manufacturers are able to measure their supply efficiency and also the performance of their devices. This is done by attaching sensors on their products before releasing them and hence getting more accurate data. Optimization of industrial processes by industries depending on the industrial internet of things.
Homes are made smarter and more comfortable with the use of devices such as smart thermostats and monitoring security systems.

Dangers associated with the Internet of Things
Selling of your personal data by the companies owning the devices.
Compromised privacy and security when cybercriminals access your devices such as web cameras and smartwatches. Corporate attacks through data leaks from the Internet of Things devices. They pose a threat to the general company’s computer system because they can be used to create backdoors into the network. They can be used to spy on other nations and hence compromising the general security