Articles

The Internet of Things (IoT) promised society that we would live in a data driven world. Our homes would be controlled entirely through voice commands. Eco friendly lights would turn themselves on when you walk into a room, and turn off when you leave. We would live in a world where computers could take care of every menial task. So far, The Internet of Things has yet to keep this promise, and it's making very little progress towards getting there. Currently, IoT has some very major problems obstructing it from growth.

The most undeniable problem the IoT has is security. Why would we buy anything with IoT capabilities when a relatively unskilled hacker could, at any given moment, hack into the devices connected to the IoT? They could turn our lights on and off endlessly, they could turn the heater on in the middle of summer, and they could steal and sell precious personal data. Many IoT devices have no security built into them and all connect to one source. Break into the source and a hacker would have complete control over someone's home.

While control over personal lighting may seem like an inconvenience, rather than an absolute disaster, what would happen if a hacker gained control of lighting in a hospital of other piece of critical infrastructure? Currently there are UL Standards in place for lights connected to the IoT, however, IoT protocol is still in it's infancy, and hackers are resourceful. Other ideas include using a blockchain system to run the entire IoT.

If you have an IoT product that you would like to make commercially available, we at Product Safety Consulting will do everything we can to ensure that your product is safe, and up to standards. Regardless of which standards are applicable to your product, let Product Safety Consulting be "Your Outsourced Compliance Department".