According to Intel IoT is expected to be a multi-trillion-dollar market, with 50 billion devices creating 44 zettabytes (or 44 trillion gigabytes) of data annually by 2020. But that widely cited 50 billion IoT devices in 2020 number is clearly not correct! Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 Is Outdated. In 2017 we should be talking about about some sensible numbers. The current count is somewhere between Gartner’s estimate of 6.4 billion (which doesn’t include smartphones, tablets, and computers), International Data Corporation’s estimate of 9 billion (which also excludes those devices), and IHS’s estimate of 17.6 billion (with all such devices included). Both Ericsson and Evans have lowered their expectations from 50 billion for 2020: Evans, who is now CTO of Stringify, says he expects to see 30 billion connected devices by then, while Ericsson figures on 28 billion by 2021.
Connectivity and security will be key features for Internet of Things processors in 2017. Microcontroller (MCU) makers will continue to target their products at the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2017 by giving more focus on battery life, more connectivity of various types, and greater security. The new architectures are almost sure to spawn a multitude of IoT MCUs in 2017 from manufacturers who adopt ARM’s core designs.
ARM will be big. Last year, ARM’s partners shipped 15 billion chips based on its architectures. The trend toward IoT processors will go well beyond ARM licensees. Intel rolled out the Intel Atom E3900 Series for IoT applications. And do not forget MIPS an RISC-V.
FPGA manufacturers are pushing their products to IoT market. They promise that FPGAs solve challenges at the core of IoT implementation: making IoT devices power efficient, handling incompatible interfaces, and providing a processing growth path to handle the inevitable increase in device performance requirement.
Energy harvesting field will become interesting in 2017 as it is more broadly adopted. Energy harvesting is becoming the way forward to help supplement battery power or lose the need for it altogether. Generally researchers are eyeing energy-harvesting to power ultra-low-power devices, wearable technology, and other things that don’t need a lot of power or don’t come in a battery-friendly form factor.
Low power wide area networks (LPWA) networks (also known as NarrowBand IoT) will be hot in 2017. There is hope that f LPWA nets will act as a catalyst, changing the nature of the embedded and machine-to-machine markets as NB-IoT focuses specifically on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and enabling a large number of connected devices. The markets will become a kind of do-it-yourselfers paradise of modules and services, blurring the lines between vendors, users and partners. At the same time for years to come, the market for low power wide area networks (LPWA) will be as fragmented and is already in a race to the bottom (Sigfox, said to be promising costs approaching $1 per node per year). Competing technologies include Sigfox, LoRa Alliance, LTE Cat 1, LTE Cat M1 (eMTC), LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) and other sub-gigahertz options almost too numerous to enumerate.
We are starting to see a battle between different IoT technologies, and in few years to come we will see which are winners and which technologies will be lost in the fight. Sigfox and Lora are currently starting well, but telecom operators with mobile networks NB-IoT will try hit the race heavily in 2017. Vendors prep Cat M1, NB1 for 2017: The Cat M1 standard delivers up to 380 Kbits/second over a 1.4 MHz channel. NB-1 handles up to 40 Kbits/s over 200 kHz channels. Vendors hope the 7-billion-unit installed base of cellular M2M modules expands. It’s too early to tell which technologies will be mainstream and which niche. It could be that cellular NB-IOT was too late, it will fail in the short term, it can win in the long term, and the industry will struggle to make any money from it. At $2 a year, 20 billion devices will contribute around 4% of current global mobile subscription revenues.
New versions of communication standards will be taken into use in 2017. For example Bluetooth 5 that adds more speed and IoT functionality. In 2017, we will see an increase in the number of devices with the new Bluetooth 5 standard.
Industrial IoT to gain traction in 2017. Industrial applications ultimately have the greater transformative potential than consumer products, offering users real returns on investment (ROI) rather than just enhanced convenience or “cool factor”. But the industrial sector is conservative and has been slow to embrace an industrial IoT (IIoT), but is seems that they are getting interested now. During the past year there has been considerable progress in removing many of the barriers to IIoT adoption. A global wide implementation of an IIoT is many years away, of course. The issues of standards and interoperability will most likely remain unresolved for several years to come, but progress is being made. The Industrial Internet Consortium released a framework to support development of standards and best practices for IIoT security.
The IIoT market is certainly poised to grow. A Genpact research study, for instance, indicates that more than 80% of large companies believe that the IIoT will be essential to their future success. In a recent market analysis by Industry ARC, for instance, the projected value of the IIoT market will reach more than $120 billion by 2021. Research firm Markets and Markets is even more optimistic, pegging IIoT growth at a CAGR of 8% to more than $150 billion by 2020. And the benefits will follow. By GE’s estimate, the IIoT will stimulate an increase in the global GDP of $10 to $15 trillion over the next 20 years.
Systems integrators are seeking a quick way to enter the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market. So expect to see many plug and play IoT sensor systems unveiled. There were many releses in 2016, and expect to see more in 2017. Expect to see device, connectivity and cloud service to be marketed as one packet.
IoT analytics will be talked a lot in 2017. Many companies will promise to turn Big Data insights into bigger solutions. For industrial customers Big Data analytics is promised to drive operational efficiencies, cut costs, boosting production, and improving worker productivity. There are many IIoT analytic solution and platform suppliers already on the market and a growing number of companies are now addressing industrial analytics use.
In 2016 it was all bout getting the IoT devices connected to cloud. In 2017 we will see increased talk about fog computing. Fog computing is new IoT trend pushed by Cisco and many other companies. As the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves, decentralized, distributed-intelligence concepts such as “fog computing” are taking hold to address the need for lower latencies, improved security, lower power consumption, and higher reliability. The basic premise of fog computing is classic decentralization whereby some processing and storage functions are better performed locally instead of sending data all the way from the sensor, to the cloud, and back again to an actuator. This demands smarter sensors and new wireless sensor network architectures. Groups such as the Open Fog Consortium have formed to define how it should best be done. You might start to want to be able to run the same code in cloud and your IoT device.
The situation in IoT security in 2016 was already Hacking the IoT: As Bad As I Feared It’d Be and there is nothing that would indicate that the situation will not get any better in 2017. A veritable army of Internet-connected equipment has been circumvented of late, due to vulnerabilities in its hardware, software or both … “smart” TVs, set-top boxes and PVRs, along with IP cameras, routers, DSL, fiber and cable modems, printers and standalone print servers, NASs, cellular hot spots, and probably plenty of other gear. IoT world at the moment is full of vulnerable devices, and it will take years to get then replaces with more secure devices. Those vulnerable devices can be used to make huge DDoS attacks against Internet services. The 2016 October 21 cyberattacks on Dyn brought to light how easily many IoT devices can be compromised. I expect that kind of incidents will happen more in 2017 as DDoS botnets are pretty easy to build with tools available on-line. There’s no question that everyone in the chain – manufacturers, retailers and consumers – have to do a better job securing connected devices.When it comes to IoT, more security is needed.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
The evolution of data center infrastructure in North America
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/the-evolution-of-data-center-infrastructure-in-north-america/9c061a12c0e8b05dee9dd7280032c95c.html
Data centers have become increasingly important under the Industrial Internet of Things revolution. Physical and cybersecurity have to be assessed and continuously improved. What are the most crucial considerations for the IT infrastructure of a data center?
Is the data center secure enough?
With rising cyber security concerns, protecting servers and information assets in data centers is critical. Security—both physical and cyber—has to be assessed, continuously improved and new systems may need to be put in place to increase the security posture in this sector. IT operations are a crucial aspect of most organizational operations around the world.
How to cool the data centers down?
A number of data center hosts are selecting geographic areas that take advantage of the cold climate to mitigate the extensive costs of cooling their server infrastructure. As data centers pack more computing power, managing the significant heat that the semi-conductors generate is consuming more and more of the operating costs of a data center; consumption is at approximately 2% of U.S. total power consumption.
Public, private or hybrid: What’s best for you data?
For companies that continue to own and operate their own data center, their servers are used for running the Internet and intranet services needed by internal users within the organization, e.g., e-mail servers, proxy servers, and domain name system (DNS) servers. Network security elements should be deployed: firewalls, virtual private network (VPN) gateways, situational awareness platforms, intrusion detection systems, etc. An on-site monitoring system for the network and applications also should be deployed to provide insight to hardware health, multi-vendor device support, automated network device discovery and quick deployment. In addition, off-site monitoring systems can be implemented to provide a holistic view of the LAN and WAN performance.
Data center infrastructure management
Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is the integration of information technology (IT) and facility management disciplines to centralize monitoring, management and intelligent capacity planning of a data center’s critical systems.
Data center boom in North America
The combination of cheap power and cold weather puts Canada and upper regions of the United States in a similar class with Sweden and Finland, which host huge data centers for Facebook and Google.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Home: Consumers Want Energy Monitoring
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/05/smart-home-consumers-want-energy-monitoring.html?cmpid=enl_btr_weekly_2017-05-11
Home In the Home Smart Home: Consumers Want Energy Monitoring
Smart Home: Consumers Want Energy Monitoring
May 10, 2017
By BTR Staff
According to Parks Associates, 40-50% of consumers surveyed find individual energy monitoring services appealing for smart home applications.
“Safety and security are the leading value propositions for the smart home, yet more people own smart thermostats than any other product category,”
The research house says 54% of U.S. broadband households are interested in a monitoring solution that identifies problems with any major appliance, and 50% are interested in a solution that identifies ways of improving energy efficiency.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BTR Smart Home
http://www.btreport.net/in-the-home/smart-home.html
News and products involving operator-provided smart home technologies, including security, automation, home health monitoring, energy control, and more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Home Security Top-of-Mind for Consumers
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/05/smart-home-security-top-of-mind-for-consumers.html
According to Parks Associates, 59% of U.S. broadband households planning to purchase a smart home device are interested in a support service that guarantees the security of their device from unauthorized access. This option was the most popular value-added service among smart home shoppers, while services that resolve technical issues or provide tools for the user to address problems each gained interest from 45% of potential buyers.
“The entire consumer experience in the smart home is evolving into a curated experience,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Develop safety through security
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/develop-safety-through-security/511e8d46c4a71b08c126311430c37c1b.html
Safety implications of security often end up overlooked and companies need to learn how to assess, manage and mitigate risks for industrial security.
As organizations implement connected, information-enabled architectures to improve productivity, efficiency and safety that means industrial security cannot be too far behind.
Whether it’s remote access to production machinery, wireless access to pumping stations, or connecting plant-floor equipment to the IT infrastructure, greater connectivity can provide significant improvements in productivity and safety. But it also increases risks—not only to intellectual property, profits and mission-critical production assets, but also to people and the environment.
The connected enterprise unites people, processes and things. It brings together enterprise-level IT and plant-level operations technology (OT) systems into a common network infrastructure. And it harnesses the power of enabling technologies, from data and analytics software to smart devices that make up the Internet of Things (IoT).
What does this mean for manufacturers and industrial operators? It means production intelligence for measuring and improving nearly every aspect of their operations, including quality, productivity, uptime and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). It means enterprise-wide connectivity for instantaneous information sharing and seamless collaboration across an organization. It means remote monitoring of critical production assets and systems dispersed across remote locations.
For all the opportunities, however, there are also risks. More connection points can create more entrance points for security threats. These threats can be physical or digital, internal or external, and malicious or unintentional. And they can pose a danger in many ways, including intellectual property loss, disrupted operations and compromised product quality.
Safety as attack vector
Breached machine- and process-safety systems can create cascading safety consequences.
For starters, compromised safety systems that don’t stop machines when they reach a dangerous state or when a safety device ends up triggered can expose workers to the very threat they should receive protection from. Additionally, safety systems that aren’t able to stop production beyond certain operating conditions can expose other employees or an entire plant to risks, such as fires, chemical leaks or explosions.
The risks can be especially high in industries where employees work with hazardous or volatile materials, such as in chemical manufacturing. And the risks will only grow as collaborative robotics become more prevalent, with employees and robots working side-by-side on production lines.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Watson Gets a Factory Job
https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/ibm-watson-gets-factory-job/79421526156764?cid=nl.x.dn14.edt.aud.dn.20170511.tst004t
In partnership with ABB, IBM Watson is turning its brains to smartening up smart manufacturing with visual recognition inspections.
IBM has launched an Internet of Things system as part of Watson. The tools is called Cognitive Visual Inspection, and the idea is to provide manufacturers with a “cognitive assistant” on the factory floor to minimize defects and increase product quality. According to IBM, in early production-cycle testing, Watson was able to reduce 80% of the inspection time while reducing manufacturing defects by 7-10%.
The system uses an ultra-high definition camera and adds cognitive capabilities from Watson to create a tool that captures images of products as they move through production and assembly. Together with human inspectors, Watson recognizes defects in products, including scratches or pinhole-size punctures.
“Watson brings its cognitive capabilities to image recognition,” Bret Greenstein, VP of IoT at IBM, told Design News. “We’re applying this to a wide range of industries, including electronics and automotive.”
The system continuously learns based on human assessment of the defect classifications in the images.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Super-easy IoT with AutoIt
Easily synchronize devices using AutoIt and remote control or IM software
https://hackaday.io/project/21700-super-easy-iot-with-autoit
Building the internet of things is very easy. All that is needed is already widely available: remote control or instant messaging software, and AutoIt. AutoIt allows the automation of mouse clicks and keyboard entries. This way, if a device is connected to a computer, and another to a different computer, the devices can work together if the controlling computers are connected to the internet and have remote control (e. g. TeamViewer) or instant messaging (e. g. Mirc) software working on them. It is as easy as it sounds.
https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/downloads/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Continental has developed a ContiPressureCheck system that continuously monitors the pressure and temperature of the tires and warns the driver if the tire pressure of a wheel falls. The system monitors up to 24 tires.
The safety and comfort of driving depend directly on the condition of the tires. About 40 percent of the tire tines are caused by too small tire pressures. Tire pressure monitoring systems are able to eliminate the cause of several accidents and improve driving safety. They also reduce carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6307-jarjestelma-valvoo-24-renkaan-painetta
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Finnish firm Bedditi’s sensor technology sales to Apple were confirmef on Tuesday. Companies have been cooperating in the past. At the same time, Apple is going to run more extensively with Nokia in health and wellbeing technology.
Beddit is a Finnish company who started his career ten years ago on the subject of clinical research on sleep. The Beddit 3 sensor, which was introduced under the bed, was published last October.
With Beddit, Apple will build a new growth area with the smartcards on the health and wellness area. The same is also the case with Nokia, who bought over a year ago French health products from France. The company is about to use the Nokia product name.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/05/12/suomalaisantureiden-kauppa-applelle-varmistui/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Money is done by the one who opens the data to the network”
Tyler Seppälä, a research manager at Etla and soon to become a professor at the Aalto University in charge of Digital Operations, says that in the digital economy, money is being made by the one who manages the platform and opens the data that it owns to be exploited by third parties.
Seppälä presented his views last week at the first Embedded Conference Finland event in Helsinki, Finland.
He argued that the companies that control the centralized platform and data have been successful over the past ten years, but have also provided this information to others. The best examples of this are apparent, namely, Apple and Google. – And keep in mind that Apple does not have a buying organization, Seppälä stressed.
Everyone is intrigued by digitization and the Internet of things, but the truth is that the development is only in its early stages. – 98 percent of devices are not connected to the Internet, “Seppälä recalled.
The same goes for Finnish companies. – 24 percent say they invest in the Internet, but 76 percent do not invest!
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6306-rahaa-tekee-se-joka-avaa-datan-verkkoon
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low-cost cloud-connecting kit, with multiple sensors, for STM32 IoT developers
http://www.eedesignnewseurope.com/news/low-cost-cloud-connecting-kit-multiple-sensors-stm32-iot-developers
STMicroelectronics’ high-connectivity STM32L4 IoT Discovery kit, B-L475E-IOT01A, supports multiple low-power wireless standards and Wi-Fi, while integrating a complete collection of motion, gesture, and environmental sensors, that ST says is unavailable on alternative kits.
Intended to connect IoT devices to Cloud services power-efficiently and cost-effectively, this IoT development kit adds modules for Bluetooth low energy (BLE), sub-GHz RF (in 915 MHz or 868 MHz variants), and Wi-Fi, with a dynamic NFC-tag IC with printed antenna to a high-performance, ultra-low power STM32L4 microcontroller, all on the same board.
The heart of the kit is an 80 MHz STM32L475 32-bit microcontroller that combines the ARM Cortex-M4 core featuring DSP extensions, 1 MB on-chip Flash, and low-power technologies to help build smart IoT devices on a tight power budget. Custom functionality may be added using the industry-standard Arduino and Pmod expansion connectors.
B-L475E-IOT01A
STM32L4 Discovery kit IoT node, low-power wireless, BLE, NFC, SubGHz, Wi-Fi
http://www.st.com/en/evaluation-tools/b-l475e-iot01a.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
New IOT Attack Linked To Iran – Persirai Malware Strikes at IP Cameras in Latest IOT Attack
http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/59024/malware/persirai-attack.html
Trend Micro has discovered a new attack on internet-based IP cameras and recorders powered by a new Internet of Things (IOT) bot dubbed PERSIRAI.
Tomi Engdahl says:
After Harman Kardon, HP signs on to launch Cortana-enabled devices, too
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/10/after-harman-kardon-hp-signs-on-to-launch-cortana-enabled-devices-too/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
Harman Kardon announced the Invoke, its Cortana-enabled Amazon Echo competitor. While Harman Kardon was the first company to integrate Cortana into this kind of device, it’s not going to be the only one for long. As Microsoft announced today, HP has also signed on to build similar devices. Intel, too, is getting into this game, and promises to soon launch reference designs for Cortana-enabled devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home automation is a childish misuse of technology
Opening curtains and switching on lights by hand is foolproof
https://www.ft.com/content/c1fe01f6-138c-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76
Mark Zuckerberg published a video on Facebook a few months ago, showing off the artificially intelligent gadgetry he has installed in his family home in Palo Alto.
“Now he can see which lights are on in the house and to what level, or what the temperature is and adjust each to the level he wants by executing a command using the API [application programming interface].”
Mr Zuckerberg has posted on Facebook extensive notes on his domestic electronics, and invited suggestions for other automated home gizmos he might install. Seventeen-thousand have been posted to date, suggesting that crowdsourcing creative thinking works.
“Home technology” was once the province of extreme gadget lovers
In the 1990s, stories about Bill Gates’s tech-filled home described visitors being tagged so their preferred music and lighting could accompany them everywhere.
But today it is everywhere.
custom installation — or home integration as this technology is also sometimes known — is a $14bn industry.
It strikes me as a childish misuse of technology — unless, of course, you are disabled, in which case, all power to it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Echo gets its own ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit
The smart speaker has truly hit the big time.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/14/amazon-echo-saturday-night-live-skit/
How do you know when a gadget has become part of the American cultural zeitgeist? When it gets its own Saturday Night Live routine, apparently. The comedy show ran a skit (US-only) on May 13th pitching the “Amazon Echo Silver,” an imaginary smart speaker aimed at the “greatest generation.” Not surprisingly, that means lots of stereotypical jokes about seniors
The funniest part: while the Silver is clearly a spoof on Amazon’s ever-growing Echo lineup, it’s not that much of a stretch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s Echo Show is Alexa with a touchscreen
The $230 device has a 7-inch display and unusual boxy retro style.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/09/amazons-echo-show-is-alexa-with-a-touchscreen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Elderly Alexa’ helps families care for their remote loved ones via voice
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/14/elderly-alexa-helps-family-care-for-their-remote-loved-ones-via-voice/?ncid=rss&utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week In Review: IoT
http://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-52/
Microsoft announced Azure IoT Edge at its Build developer conference in Seattle. IoT Edge can run on Windows or Linux, Microsoft said, and on a variety of devices, such as Raspberry Pi, taking up just 128 megabytes of memory. “Azure IoT Edge enables IoT devices to run cloud services, process data in near real-time, and communicate with sensors and other devices connected to them, even with intermittent cloud connectivity,” Microsoft’s Sam George said in a statement. “By enabling processing, analytics and action to happen closer to the source of the data, Azure IoT Edge empowers you to make faster and smarter decisions, while reducing bandwidth costs by sending only critical information to the cloud for further analysis.”
Comark Instruments, a Fluke subsidiary, has introduced the Kitchen Manager, a food safety system that uses IoT technology to monitor hazard analysis and critical control points in food-service operations. The Kitchen Manager is a Web-based system for checking temperatures in food-storage areas. It can be used with Comark’s Bluetooth Pocketherm Thermometer.
IAR Systems is teaming with Ayla Networks to provide a comprehensive IoT product development environment. The IAR Embedded Workbench is being paired with Ayla’s IoT platform, used around the world for developing IoT products.
Honeywell Process Solutions and SKF are working together on an Industrial IoT pilot project at a copper mine in Latin America. The companies are jointly developing a user-friendly digital ecosystem to capture and analyze data from a plant operator’s machinery.
Grand View Research forecasts the worldwide Industrial IoT market will see a compound annual growth rate of 27.8%, increasing from $109.8 billion last year to $933.62 billion by 2025.
Future Market Insights sees the IoT embedded security market rising from $2.525 billion last year to more than $11.1 billion by the end of 2027, with controller chips accounting for the greatest part of such growth.
A new report estimates the IoT operating system market will grow 42.9% a year during the next five years, from $289.2 million this year to $1.72 billion by 2022.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon’s new Alexa developer policy now bans all ads except in music and flash briefings
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/20/amazons-new-alexa-developer-policy-now-bans-all-ads-except-in-music-and-flash-briefings/
15-second ads coming to Amazon’s Alexa
Ads at the start and end of Alexa conversations, thanks to third-party company.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/amazon-alexa-ads-voicelabs/
VoiceLabs, a chunderifically self-described “Voice Experience Analytics” company, is hoping to cash-in on Amazon’s success by inserting “6-15 seconds long” advertisements “at the start and end of conversations.”
VoiceLabs’ plans to place audio ads inside Skills—third-party apps created by developers that allow Alexa to do things like book an Uber or turn on some smart lights—stand in stark contrast to Amazon’s developer agreement, which restricts “any advertising for third-party products or services.” The only Skills that are officially able to feature any form of advertising are streaming music, radio, and flash briefings.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sobering Thoughts When a Connected Medical Device Is Connected to You
http://www.securityweek.com/sobering-thoughts-when-connected-medical-device-connected-you
I recently had reason to spend an overnight visit in the hospital. When friends and family left me late in the evening I was confronted with a subject that I had considered professionally but never had to face personally: the connected medical device.
When software security gets personal
Injecting privacy and safety into the security-quality conversation
When enhanced functionality poses a life-threatening risk
The Equation: Privacy, Safety, Quality and Security
Taking privacy, safety, quality, and security all into the equation, the innocuous-looking box beeping and flashing by my bed suddenly demands a whole new level of consideration. Connecting such a device makes great sense regarding sharing medical data and providing software updates to improve functionality. However, as in all things, there are two edges to the sword.
All too often the theme of patient privacy dominates the conversation around connected medical devices. However, as security researchers like Billy Rios and Dr. Marie Moe so adroitly remind us, there is often much more at stake than the exposure of personal medical data. I can assure you that in the quiet of my hospital room late in the evening, I was far more worried about what medicine was coming out of the pump than what data was coming out of it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comparing 10 Sleep Trackers (2017)
How well do they track your sleep? A 9-day minute-by-minute comparison.
http://sleep.cs.brown.edu/comparison/
In the end, we found that most devices were similar to each other if they were based on the same type of sensor (accelerometer vs. noise) and the device type (phone vs. wristband vs. other). Ultimately, sleep is best tracked through polysomnography, but these devices offer much more accessible and convenient options for casual users to track their activity and learn more about their habits during both the night and day. These devices offer some powerful data tracking tools, but it’s best to let the experts analyze your sleep if you have any chronic conditions. Our findings tell that these consumer-level sleep reports should be taken with a grain of salt, but regardless we’re happy to see more and more people investing in improving their sleep — after all, there’s nothing better than a good night’s rest!
If you’re interested in learning more about sleep tracking and would like to sign up for SleepCoacher, the Android and iPhone app being developed by researchers in my research group at Brown University, check out our sleep work here!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Discerning the next generation of process automation wireless technology
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/pt/2017/04/discerning-the-next-generation-of-process-automation-wireless-technology.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-05-15
In general, industrial wireless technologies can be classified into three main categories based on their coverage area:
– Wireless sensor networks: Dominated by ISA-100.11a, WirelessHART, ZigBee, and IPv6 over low-power wireless personal area network (6LoWPAN) technologies.
– Wireless backbone networks: Dominated by IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi family.
– Wireless backhaul networks: Dominated by UHF radio and evolving toward 4G long-term evolution (LTE), satellite (Ka-band VSAT), and microwave technology
Over the past four decades, ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radios have been widely used for long-range supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) connectivity in the oil and gas and power and utility sectors. The UHF radio platform was an optimum low-speed connectivity solution that interconnected field remote terminal units (RTUs) to a centralized SCADA host using 25-kilohertz channels. It yielded roughly a 19.6-kilobits-per-second wireless data rate.
New business operational needs required switching to broadband wireless technology for high-speed connectivity. Evolving SCADA technology continues to take advantage of emerging technologies at different layers, capitalizing on open standards and new technologies, enabling integrated services and functionality across wider areas. For example, intelligent field, closed-circuit television (CCTV), mobile radios with video streaming, and field computing applications became common information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) integrated services.
Furthermore, and despite the fact that wireless instrumentation standards were ratified more than five years ago, there are a limited number of certified wireless instrumentation devices that comply with WirelessHART or ISA-100.11a specifications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Boost Your Google Home With Prota OS for RPi
https://hackaday.io/project/22050-boost-your-google-home-with-prota-os-for-rpi
Extend your Google Home features to smart light, smart speakers, smart cam and smart appliances with those DIY tricks based on Raspberry Pi
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smart home iot INTERNET OF THINGS smart hub automation home automation smart lights smart plug smart speakers connected speakers connected lights smart appliances connected garage door connected coffee maker smart cam webcam monitoring
This project was created on 05/16/2017 and last updated 21 minutes ago.
Description
Easily extend your Google Home features through this project. Based on Prota OS for Raspberry Pi, free smart home automation OS. Supported by IFTTT. Allows easy connection with ITTT services (like Google Assistant) and sensors and actuators connected to Raspberry Pi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Self Sustained Low Power Nodes
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/15/hackaday-prize-entry-self-sustained-low-power-nodes/
For his Hackaday Prize entry, [Shantam Raj] is building a self-contained sensor node. It’s a Bluetooth device for the Internet side of this Thing, but the real trick to this device is solar energy harvesting and low power capabilities through optimized firmware.
Basically, this system is a low-power SoC with Bluetooth. The power from this device comes from a small solar cell coupled with a very efficient power supply and some new, interesting supercapacitors from Murata. These supercaps are extremely small, have high storage capacity, low ESR, and fast charging and discharging.
SUN : Self-Sustained Ultralow-power Node
Ambient/Solar Energy harvesting based nodes that DON’T run on a LiPo battery.
https://hackaday.io/project/20523-sun-self-sustained-ultralow-power-node
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use hardware for protection
Everything starts with trust, once belonged to the German bank’s advertising log. The more value the data is or the more complicated the system is, the harder the confidence is to secure. The same goes for embedded systems.
The number of embedded devices increases exponentially. It is accompanied by the increase in the risks brought by these devices, in particular through the integration of network connections. As a result of each new integration layer, the number of threats and threats increases with Industry 4.0 devices. More threats emerge as soon as core activities are moved to the cloud because cloud devices have no physical security.
So far, mobile operators have not had scalable security tools to verify that data and EDP systems have been kept confidential and intact. As a result, cloud computing components must be protected. To ensure the compatibility of different devices, the computing platform’s security is based on defined standards.
Three security levels
Security can be created on three different levels.
- Only at the software level: Anchoring security methods to the operating system is practically free, but only provides limited protection.
- At Software and Device Levels: A reliable driving environment, consisting of software and hardware, provides biscuit-level security at low cost.
- Software and physically tamper-proof hardware: The permanently installed security element implemented with the hardware and equipped with the encryption algorithm requires an investment but guarantees the highest level of protection.
There are several computer technologies available for the latter:
- The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a trusted device system with a stored key.
- The Trusted Network Connect (TNC) interface defines a controlled access to the system, which always protects you against terminal equipment.
- Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) refers to the blocking level.
- The PC terminal, the Mobile and Vehicle applications are based on profiles conforming to the specifications of the TPM 2.0 library.
The solution also requires a reliable hardware with connections to different platforms. This must also include embedded systems such as smartphones, cars, clouds, virtual machines, servers, desktops, laptops, tablets, and many other devices.
security Processes
First, the quality of the security depends on the corresponding processes. Ideally, such a process works iteratively: it starts with an analysis of attacks and threats that defines the security objectives and methods. These serve as the basis on which to design and develop secure environments, as well as a security lab where the company can develop a range of security-certified tests to ensure the safe production and personalization of end products.
Safety Anchors
System security is defined by the key to encrypting and decrypting sensitive data. If this key is hacked or cloned, all security provided by it will be lost. This means that key processing throughout the product life cycle – including production – is critical. Three security anchors ensure key security: key safe storage, encryption protection and key handling. In other words, who has access to the key and when, and by what means. These anchors can be implemented differently in the system, either as software components in the operating system or on the device level as separate hardware systems in which the security functions are expanded.
Although isolation and / or encryption of all data and systems provides a very high level of security, this approach can not generally be implemented or recommended. For example, a server can not be encrypted where business partners require access to open data. In addition, sufficient transparency is required to update the system software and firmware.
A typical, secure industrial control system could be this: a wireless sensor with built-in encryption module is connected to the control unit by one-way authentication. The control unit is equipped with an authentication circuit, which is a device module with a stored key. With this key, the control unit can check the authentication of the sensor with another one-way authentication to another connected device with the same encryption module as the sensor
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/tekniset-artikkelit/6315-suojaus-kannattaa-aina-tehda-raudalla
Tomi Engdahl says:
Congatec, a German embedded solution and card module, has launched an initiative to standardize multiple card format interfaces and firmware. The ComX project is ambitious,
The company announced the ComX project for Japan’s embedded technology at Embedded Systems Expo. The project relies on existing embedded card standards such as COM Express, Qsevem, and SMARC.
Congatec is the first card manufacturer to propose a combination of both ARM and x86 cards. According to the company, the initiative is being passed through both the PICMG organization running the COM Express standard and the SGET organization that manages the SMARC and Qseven standards.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6318-korteille-puuhataan-yhteista-comx-standardia
More:
Press Releases
9. May 2017
ESEC 2017: congatec announces ComX™ standardization initiative
http://www.congatec.com/congatec-ag/press-releases/article/esec-2017-congatec-announces-comxTM-standardization-initiative.html
announces at the Embedded Systems Expo & Conference (ESEC 2017) in Japan (West Hall 1F , Booth W4-20) the extended standardization initiative ComX™ that goes beyond the current specifications for computer-on-modules. This ComX™ standardization targets two pillars, the API and middleware standardization including APIs for IoT Gateways or embedded features of COM Express Type 7 server-on-modules as well as approved circuit diagrams and logic for demanded carrier board implementations such as FPGA integration, switching logic for USB-C, or for SMART battery logic.
“Significant improvements for design efficiency are highly demanded by embedded and IoT system engineers, who are faced with the design challenge of having to deliver more new product designs in the same or even shorter time frames. They can meet these challenges by switching from full custom, single PCB designs to more flexible designs based on application ready computer-on-modules. We can boost this efficiency even more, by offering an additional standardization on top of the computer-on-module centric specifications”, explains Christian Eder, director marketing at congatec and draft editor of various PICMG and SGET specifications.
For custom specific designs, computer-on-modules deliver the vendor independent, standardized and application ready computing core, thereby making the realization of individual board configurations far less time consuming.
The goal of the ComX™ standard is to establish an additional design-in and API standardization on top of the core standards to further simplify the development of customers’ dedicated applications based on standardized embedded computing building blocks.
Also brand new and impressive is the new SMARC 2.0 computer-on-module demonstration based on of Intel® Atom™, Celeron® and Pentium® processors (codename Apollo Lake) where congatec presents the implementation of fully featured USB Type C connectivity with USB 3.1 Gen1, power and graphics. By demonstrating this universally applicable form of plug & play functionality, congatec greatly simplifies the use of embedded technology. Fully featured USB-C jacks are still rare and present a real breakthrough for standardizing the fragmented world of cable-based external interconnects. “Such standardization is very beneficial for system engineers as well as system integrators and device users. System engineers don’t need to think about the interface setup anymore”, comments Eder.
A highlight for the high-end embedded and edge sever sectors are the new COM Express Type 7 based server-on-modules offering server-grade performance and functionality with their Intel® Xeon® D processors, 2x 10 GbE and 32 PCIe lanes. The latter can be used for powerful intra system expansions such as GPGUs and NVMe based ultra-fast storage devices as well as multi-module configurations on one single carrier board for high performance computing (HPC) designs.
The presentation of the new congatec Cloud API (Application Programming Interface), that is designed for IoT gateways and edge servers and a proposed element of SGETs API standardizations
congatec’s new Cloud API for IoT Gateways communicates with local smart sensors, processes and converts the acquired data and executes automated actions based on a local rule engine, reducing traffic to the IoT cloud and enabling fast local actions. Secure bidirectional data exchange with any suitable clouds is achieved by using the TLS secured MQTT protocol. Clients can access this cloud via https in client or administrator mode.
Tomi Engdahl says:
John Koetsier / Forbes:
Amazon announces that Alexa skills will soon be able to push notifications to Alexa enabled devices for users who have opted in — “The weather is great this morning; you should take a run,” is something that Amazon’s Alexa will never say to you … unless you’ve added a fitness skill and opted-in to notifications.
Amazon’s Alexa Getting Weather, News, And Shopping Notifications
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2017/05/16/amazons-alexa-gets-weather-news-notifications-just-like-your-phone/#42de22ad125b
“The weather is great this morning; you should take a run,” is something that Amazon’s Alexa will never say to you … unless you’ve added a fitness skill and opted-in to notifications.
Today Amazon announced that Alexa skills will soon gain the capability to deliver notifications.
That’s a bigger deal than it might seem at first glance.
The Alexa platform currently has more than 12,000 skills, growing at over 1,000 a month.
The challenge with skills has been two-fold: monetization, and user retention.
Clearly, for developers and publishers to maintain interest in Alexa as a viable plaform to write code for, they need to be able to make money on it, and they need ways to engage and retain customers, or users.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon begins rewarding top-performing Alexa Skill developers with direct payments
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/16/amazon-begins-rewarding-top-performing-alexa-skill-developers-with-direct-payments/
Amazon has quietly launched a new program that will directly pay developers building high-quality Alexa skills — the voice-activated apps for Alexa-powered devices like the Amazon Echo speaker and related products. This is the first time Amazon has offered a means for Alexa developers to monetize their skills on its app store.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leading New Ict:
The smart City
Improving Daily Lives
http://advertisementfeature.cnn.com/2017/huawei/smart-city/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=tab&utm_campaign=huawei_adcontent_apac
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s new IoT Core service helps businesses manage their IoT data and devices
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2017/05/16/googles-new-iot-core-service-helps-businesses-manage-their-iot-data-and-devices-techcrunch/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Infographic: Journey Towards Successful IoT Solutions
https://iot-analytics.com/iot-infographic-journey-successful-solutions/
In order to create transparency around what it takes to develop a commercial industrial IoT Solution, we created an IoT infographic that helps people adopting IoT technology understand some of the crucial elements of the journey. On a high level there are usually 5 steps:
1. Business Case Development
2. Build vs. Buy Decision
3. Proof of Concept (PoC)
4. Initial Pilot Rollout
5. Commercial Deployment
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 Case Studies for the Industrial Internet of Things
http://www.iotcentral.io/blog/10-case-studies-for-the-industrial-internet-of-things
1) Bytes and Bushels – Farming on an Industrial Scale
2) The Tesla IoT Car: Case Study
3) GE’s Big Bet on Data and Analytics
4) Can a Cow be an IoT Platform
5) Global Smart Cities
6) PTC Thingworx – All Traffic Solutions
7) Stanley Black and Decker
9) The Supermarket of the Future: Designing for humans
10) IoT for Electronic Medical Records
Tomi Engdahl says:
A closer look at the Internet of Things 2.0 – and why it’s inevitable
By Jamie Carter Internet
Common standards will be key for the IoT 2.0
http://www.techradar.com/news/a-closer-look-at-the-internet-of-things-20-and-why-its-inevitable
Once 46 billion devices, sensors and actuators are connected by 2021 – according to Juniper – we’ll be well on the way to a bigger, more powerful and much more settled Internet of Things (IoT). So what will an IoT 2.0 look like?
Interoperability and open ecosystems
One of the key characteristics of the IoT 2.0 will be common standards. The IoT umbrella is vast, and the many industries it covers – from factories and automotive through to building automation and networking – each have their own protocols, interfaces and hardware.
“The real paradigm shift in IoT has been the availability of development boards at a fraction of the cost of old proprietary solutions,”
“They’re moving away from proprietary non-interoperable solutions and towards more open ecosystems and software.”
Happily, we’re now on the cusp of common industry standards.
IoT-enabled commerce will embrace machine learning
Contextual commerce
For retailers and e-commerce, the IoT is already massive – and growing fast.
“IoT-enabled commerce already exists, but we can expect to see an increase in connected devices using machine learning to predict what users want by analysing historical and current data,” says Jim Bailey, senior managing director at Accenture Mobility.
Cognitive-first apps
The IoT will have to change drastically just to cope with the sheer number of devices around. “IoT 2.0 will be defined by the immense number of IoT devices, sensors and actuators, deployed in very diverse environments,”
“The devices will also have to be given greater autonomy, which will inevitably lead to greater cognitive, adaptive, and predictive capabilities both at the individual device level and at the IoT platform level,”
The result is likely to be machine learning algorithms, more fog/edge computing, and new APIs. “This will give rise to a new class of cognitive applications that will put the power of IoT in the hands of the end users,”
Explosion in low-cost IoT devices
Hardware is getting cheaper, and compute is getting more powerful. “At the point where anyone can put a £1/$1 supercomputer-on-a-chip into their IoT device, which may only be a few years away, development of custom hardware will seem like a moot point,” says Rouffineau. At that point, why should IoT device manufacturers develop their own semiconductors when all the features they need can be software-defined?
Others are working on reducing the size and cost of Bluetooth chips so drastically that connectivity, too, becomes software-defined. Currently the most expensive part of Bluetooth Smart chips at the heart of every connected IoT device is the radio, but Cambridge Consultants’ Pizzicato all-digital radio tech slashes the size by 90%.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why the Internet of Things could fail
By Jamie Carter Internet
Is the IoT really the slam-dunk we’re all told it is?
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/why-the-internet-of-things-could-fail-1318122
The Internet of Things is going to be big, we’re told. Cisco thinks that by 2020, there will be approximately 11.6 billion mobile devices and machine-to-machine connections, up from 7.9 billion in 2015, while a new report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) states that big data and the IoT will add £322 billion to the UK economy by 2020, creating 182,000 new jobs.
Gartner has forecast IoT adoption to grow 50% in 2016 alone. Is the IoT really as inevitable – and as all-encompassing – as we’re led to believe? Is this confidence in the IoT over-optimistic?
Why the optimistic predictions?
The hype cycle is in full swing, and that’s not unusual for new technologies, but the IoT is all, and only, about connected devices, and their growth in popularity.
“While very rapid growth rates can sometimes be achieved in the consumer market, growth in the business market is more measured,”
Why the sudden increase?
In the business market, rates of 20% to 30% per year for connected device units growth have been quite typical over the last decade, according to Duke-Woolley. “Some IoT predictions are forecasting anywhere up to 100% growth per annum and the question that needs to be asked is: why the sudden increase?”
Unproven potential
Many agree that the IoT has the potential to have a greater impact than the first digital revolution. “But it would be foolish to ignore the fact that the long-term profitability of some services and applications have yet to be proven,” says Matthew Evans, executive director at industry body techUK.
Bring on the hype
However, some think the hype around the IoT is fully justified. “The tech industry is rightly confident in the IoT and its potential – it is our future and we have still barely left the start line,” says Peter Veash, founder and CEO at The BIO Agency. “New products are arriving every week and making the impossible more realistic, but we don’t yet necessarily know exactly what the IoT future could look like, or its impact on society.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Towards More Enterprise Security for IoT
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/enterprise-security-iot/
Internet of Things (IoT) devices will bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds to improve the quality and productivity of life, society, and industries. Based on a research done by Business Intelligence, the enterprise IoT sector will have an estimated 9.1 billion IoT devices connected by 2019 which will make it the largest sector of the three main IoT sectors (enterprise, home, and government).
The upside is that we are able to do things we never before imagined. But it’s becoming an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals. Gartner predicts that more than 25 percent of identified attacks in enterprises will involve IoT by 2020.
Enterprises should consider investing in IoT devices that have built in security features to strength the protection and integrity of the device. For example, the device needs to force the user to change their default password to a stronger one before they start using their devices. Moreover, sensors should have built in computer chips that integrate security at the transistor level, embedded in the processor that provides encryption and anonymity. All critical sensors should be configured to only run signed code at firmware and application levels to be sure malicious attacks don’t overwrite code after it is loaded.
In order to automatically authenticate trusted activity among networked sensors, enterprises can configure their IoT network to use a Blockchain model to help in preventing the man-in-the-middle attacks.
From the transport side of things, anyone capable of eavesdropping on the IoT communication might access the information exchanged since data might be in transmitted in plain text. Companies can apply a DTLS variant of TLS to encrypt data in low-power devices that operate intermittently between sleep cycles.
Privacy should be established during communication where devices should communicate if and only when there is a need. In 3GPP machine type communications after a period of inactivity, the devices will detach from the network in order to avoid unnecessary collection of location information.
Few standards or best practices are being drafted for IoT security design and testing such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security.
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/smartgrid/nistir-7628_total.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
ABB and IBM partner in industrial artificial intelligence solutions
Combining ABB AbilityTM and IBM Watson for superior customer value
http://new.abb.com/news/detail/1411/ABB-and-IBM-partner-in-industrial-artificial-intelligence-solutions
ABB and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a strategic collaboration that brings together ABB’s industry leading digital offering, ABB Ability, with IBM Watson Internet of Things cognitive capabilities to unlock new value for customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure.
Customers will benefit from ABB’s deep domain knowledge and extensive portfolio of digital solutions combined with IBM’s expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as different industry verticals. The first two joint industry solutions powered by ABB Ability and Watson will bring real-time cognitive insights to the factory floor and smart grids.
“This powerful combination marks truly the next level of industrial technology, moving beyond current connected systems that simply gather data, to industrial operations and machines that use data to sense, analyze, optimize and take actions that drive greater uptime, speed and yield for industrial customers,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “With an installed base of 70 million connected devices, 70,000 digital control systems and 6,000 enterprise software solutions, ABB is a trusted leader in the industrial space, and has a four decade long history of creating digital solutions for customers. IBM is a leader in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing. Together, IBM and ABB will create powerful solutions for customers to benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft simplifies IoT further
https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/04/20/microsoft-simplifies-iot-further/
The Internet of Things (IoT) is quickly becoming a critical aspect of doing business. In the same way that web, mobile and cloud technologies have powered digital transformation, IoT is the next big catalyst.
Yet while IoT brings a new set of benefits for companies that want to keep an edge on their competition, it brings challenges too — IoT solutions can still be complex, and a shortage of skills makes it difficult for everyone to take advantage of this new innovation. To help solve those challenges and simplify IoT, Microsoft is announcing some new technologies and solutions this week.
Announcing Microsoft IoT Central, a new SaaS solution to simplify IoT
Today, Microsoft is announcing Microsoft IoT Central, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering that reduces the complexity of IoT solutions. Microsoft IoT Central is a fully managed SaaS offering for customers and partners that enables powerful IoT scenarios without requiring cloud solution expertise.
Built on the Azure cloud, Microsoft IoT Central simplifies the development process and makes it easy and fast for customers to get started, making digital transformation more accessible to everyone.
Announcing Microsoft IoT Central
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/iot-central-saas-solutions
Tomi Engdahl says:
Maersk partners with Microsoft to power digital
26 April, 2017 John Churchill
http://www.maersk.com/en/markets/2017/04/maersk-partners-with-microsoft-to-power-digital
With Microsoft’s cloud computing services and Azure platform, Maersk has a powerful set of tools for turning its vast operational and commercial data into more efficient operations and better products and services for customers.
Whether in relation to the performance of its fleet of nearly 600 container vessels or the nearly 4 million repairs carried out on its containers each year, data increasingly drives A.P. Moller – Maersk’s operational improvements and is only beginning to be a source of customer and commercial insight.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Car Battery Monitor
https://hackaday.io/project/14839-car-battery-monitor
Monitor the voltage of a 12V car battery in order to get early warning that the battery is becoming discharged
Particle Photon based WiFi 12v car battery monitor. The idea is to monitor the battery voltage in order to get early warning that the battery is becoming discharged. The project is intended to be directly connected to the battery via its main terminals.
The program uses the deep sleep mode of the Photon between voltage measurements, in this state the current draw from the battery is ~1mA. It takes about 15 seconds to wake-up, connect to WiFi, take a measurement and send an event containing the measured voltage. With a sleep time of 1 hour, a 1mA current should have negligible impact on charge state of the battery in a car which is driven every day.
Over the air (OTA) firmware update is supported by a node.js script, which when the Photon wakes, sends an event to prevent it going back to sleep. Updated firmware can then be flashed using Particle Dev or Particle Build.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Waterpump control with ESP8266
Control waterpump with ESP8266 with some extra safety checks.
https://hackaday.io/project/21455-waterpump-control-with-esp8266
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sudo Google Assistant
http://hackaday.com/2017/05/16/sudo-google-assistant/
A Raspberry Pi kicking around one’s workbench is a project waiting to happen — if they remain unused long enough to be considered a ‘spare.’ If you find you’ve been pining after an Alexa or your own personal J.A.R.V.I.S., [Novaspirit Tech] might be able to help you out — provided you have a USB mic and speaker handy — with an accessible tutorial for setting up Google Assistant on your Pi.
A quick run-through on enabling a fresh API client on Google’s cloud platform, [Novaspirit] jumps over to the Raspbian console to start updating Python and a few other dependencies. Note: this is being conducted in the latest version of Raspbian, so be sure to update before you get underway with all of your sudos.
Google Assistant on Raspberry Pi
https://www.novaspirit.com/2017/05/02/google-assistant-raspberry-pi/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT needs security, says Microsoft without even a small trace of irony
Sysadmins, don’t hurt your necks shaking your heads
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/17/microsoft_iot_security_proposal/
Still reeling from criticism over the WannaCrypt attack, Microsoft has stuck its hat on a stick and raised it out of the trench to see how its proposals for Internet of Things security might be received.
Since IoT security is almost uniformly awful, it’s probably a good thing that the creator of Windows XP Embedded wants to try and clean up some of the Internet of S**t before things get even worse.
Redmond’s white paper (PDF) – are you sitting down? – reckons the tech sector can’t fix things alone, and government should get involved, at the very least helping develop policies and guidelines.
What’s government’s role in this? The white paper sets out three areas it wants governments to create policies to support:
Serve as catalysts for the development of good IoT security practices;
Build cross-disciplinary partnerships that encourage public-private collaboration and inter-agency cooperation; and
Support initiatives that improve IoT security across borders.
Microsoft adds that governments need to invest in IoT security training, education, and public awareness – a brilliant idea given how loose the governmental purse-strings are these days.
https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/05/IoT_WhitePaper_5_15_17.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
ICS Environments: Insecure by Design
http://www.securityweek.com/ics-environments-insecure-design
ndustrial Control System Design Flaws Have a Profound Impact on Security Posture of Operational Networks
It’s a generally known fact that most Industrial Control System (ICS) environments were not built with cyber security in mind because they were designed before the cyber threat existed. For decades these networks were protected by an air-gap, disconnected from the outside world. With the introduction of commercial off the shelf (COTS) technology in the 1990s (which replaced proprietary, purpose-built industrial hardware and software) and the increasing connectivity to corporate networks and the Internet, these systems have become more exposed to cyber threats and the risk of compromise.
The impact of vulnerabilities and design flaws
Like IT networks, ICS environments are susceptible to software and hardware vulnerabilities. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of ICS vulnerabilities reported.
ICS networks have become easy targets because they lack basic security controls such as authentication, and do not support encrypted communication. In IT security terms, this represents a major design flaw that adversely impacts the overall security of the ICS environment. This means that anyone with network access can make changes to controller logic and configuration which can severely affect operations and have a catastrophic impact on plant safety and reliability.
Visibility and control in ICS networks
ICS networks suffer from a lack of visibility which prevents engineering and security staff from identifying a malicious actor compromising critical assets, or a contractor that may be making an unauthorized change to the configuration of a controller. Not knowing with certainty what’s happening in these networks severely impacts the staff’s ability to detect and respond to incidents, whether caused by cyber threats or human error.
As long as security controls aren’t available to prevent unauthorized/malicious changes, the design flaws of ICS will continue to affect their security posture and put them at a high risk of compromise. No amount of vulnerability remediation can prevent access to the controllers on ICS networks or mitigate the risk of compromise resulting from a lack of security controls.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wifi came to the radiator – TI’s circuit technology
Finnish Fourdeg has introduced the world’s first wireless wifi network thermostat for water radiated radiator heating. The device is promised to work in battery life for two years, according to developers, more than many low-power radio technologies.
The Fourdeg of Helsinki has implemented a new kind of Wifi thermostat with Texas Instruments, together with Etteplan and Vincit. The thermostat is manufactured by the German Eurotronic.
” Radio connection is more secure when an extra operation is abandoned. digital thermostats connected to Fourdeg service, ”
According to developers, Wifi thermostats respond more readily to temperature changes than manual thermostats and control the indoor temperature more accurately. The learning algorithm warms and cools each room individually, taking into account the local forecast from the Meteorological Institute.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/05/17/wifi-tuli-lampopatteriin-tin-piiritekniikkaa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How big is the Internet of Things?
Technology evolution, market adoption, and the need for a horizontal IoT platform
https://pages.nokia.com/2548.How.Big.is.the.Internet.of.Things.html
Ride the IoT adoption curve with a horizontal platform
The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) represents an unprecedented opportunity for many players in the communications, IT, and consumer electronics industries.
This white paper will help you understand what is driving the size and adoption of the IoT beyond sheer device proliferation. Discover how you can take advantage of this massive growth and capitalize on the new innovative business models with a horizontal platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Protect TLS in IoT Devices with Secure Companion ICs
http://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/protect-tls-iot-devices-secure-companion-ics
More connected devices means more exposure to personal, sensitive, or mission-critical data that can be disclosed and/or tampered with. Thus, it’s essential to protect the data in transit and data at rest.
In terms of protecting data in transit, the most used protocol is TLS (Transport Layer Security, formerly known as SSL, Secure Socket Layer). Initially created for bidirectional secure communications over the internet, between computers and web sites, it’s now a must-have for securing the communication of IoT devices over the internet. It prevents eavesdropping or tampering of data in transit.
Because the TLS protocol has been vastly studied, attacked, and fixed, let along being widely adopted, it’s become quite robust. Full use of the TLS protocol relies on some assets, though: It requires storing of private keys that must never be disclosed and/or modified without strict control, and storing of certificates that must also never be modified unrestrainedly in the IoT devices.
However, since those IoT devices are deployed into the wild, the assets are exposed to attackers who may attempt invasive as well as non-invasive attacks. Invasive attacks consist of opening the enclosure of the device with the intent of manipulating memory content, replacing the firmware, or probing PCB traces. Non-invasive attacks (usually performed through communication ports on the device) target logical bugs in the device’s firmware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Despite a fickle market for fancy home appliances, new investors get behind Brava Home
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/17/despite-a-fickle-market-for-fancy-home-appliances-new-investors-get-behind-brava-home/?ncid=rss
Customers are notoriously fickle when it comes to sophisticated kitchen devices. On the one hand, there’s undoubtedly a market for items that are deemed useful and priced appropriately. Consider, for example, the Anova Precision Cooker, a $145 WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled device that managed to get its parent company sold to the appliance giant Electrolux in February for $250 million.
On the other, make your device too complicated and expensive, and you get mocked. Yes, Juicero, we’re talking to you.
Brava, a stealth-mode IoT company with plans to create a suite of domestic hardware and software products, would seem to face the same risk. But investors clearly like what it’s cooking up.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VMware Pulse IoT Center
http://www.vmware.com/products/pulse.html
VMware Pulse IoT Center is an end to end infrastructure management solution that enables OT and IT organizations to onboard, manage, monitor and secure their IoT use cases.
Your fastest path to the Internet of Things
https://www.artik.io/
Samsung ARTIK™ is the integrated Smart IoT platform providing the fastest path to secure, interoperable, and intelligent IoT products and services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How smart is it to deploy smart meters on the smart grid?
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4458391/How-smart-is-it-to-deploy-smart-meters-on-the-smart-grid-
Conventional power grids worldwide are beginning to strain against rising energy needs. Blackouts are increasing in number of occurrences. How can we improve these systems in a sustainable way?
One possible solution, of which we have all heard, is the integration of information technology to the electric grid. By integrating modern technology, architectures and tools to the electric grids already employed and in service, as well as integrating these methods into newly planned electric grids, would be a very good start.
Most conventional electric grids are composed of many electromechanical systems and in these existing grids, communication only goes in one direction, to the customer, for the most part. We must have a two-way means of communication to share and use information to improve the service and efficiency of power distribution.
Conventional grid structure has the power generation centralized for the most part. The main power generating center does send the main power to distribution centers for localized distribution to customers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lightfair 2017: Making lighting design simple, smart, and beautiful
http://www.edn.com/design/led/4458403/Lightfair-2017–Making-lighting-design-simple–smart–and-beautiful
Connected lighting may be the IoT killer app | EDN
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2017/05/19/connected-lighting-may-be-the-iot-killer-app-edn/