The security problems that derive from the Internet of Things are so serious —and so little known— that the US government has taken action on the matter to try to create a standard that guarantees its use without risks. Thus, Congress is supervising the application of the law approved in 2020 that pursued this objective. According to the North American Administration, all federal agencies should be prepared to face this challenge.
And in what situation are the most relevant players in the sector? A state publication of the National Institute of Standards and Technology establishes the bases, principles and requirements to ward off the dangers of piracy that hang over connected objects, from the most common household appliances to the complex systems applied in infrastructures such as hospitals or airports.
As analysts who participated in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona last week recall, the measures vary considerably depending on the affected devices. The authorities are concerned that hackers infiltrate these networks and environments with the aim of blackmailing them or, simply, with the aim of boycotting their normal operation. Some may wish to steal sensitive information in exchange for money; others may even conceive of this route as a sophisticated way of declaring war.
Experts model responses to threats every day. Even so, they confess that they feel very vulnerable. One of its weakest points in this framework is the cloud, the platform on which many of these services operate and, at the same time, the repository in which a large volume of sensitive data from the Government, citizens, companies etc Year after year, Mobile receives increasing attention.
The technicians who intervene in meetings such as the MWC in Barcelona insist on a type of human error that, until today, has caused countless conflicts. This occurs when employees use the devices and keys of their task for a personal, non-professional purpose. The privacy cracks that are generated then are terrible. And, from these individual failures, enormous collective damage can be unleashed. Therefore, you should never let your guard down.
The disparity of criteria and protocols had traditionally been one of the main headaches for officials and managers in charge of these teams. This variety is shrinking rapidly, as seen in the latest Mobile. Be that as it may, at the event in the Catalan capital it has also been insisted that not all manufacturers are equally reliable. And the same happens with the updates that are released to the market. Over time, less robust and compatible machines are being discarded.
