Vint Cerf: CS Programs Must Change To Adapt To Internet of Things 163
chicksdaddy (814965) writes "The Internet of Things has tremendous potential but also poses a tremendous risk if the underlying security of Internet of Things devices is not taken into account, according to Vint Cerf, Google's Internet Evangelist. Cerf, speaking in a public Google Hangout (video) on Wednesday, said that he's tremendously excited about the possibilities of an Internet of billions of connected objects. But Cerf warned that it necessitates big changes in the way that software is written. Securing the data stored on those devices and exchanged between them represents a challenge to the field of computer science – one that the nation's universities need to start addressing. Internet of Things products need to do a better job managing access control and use strong authentication to secure communications between devices."
Could they possibly come up with a dumber name? (Score:2, Informative)
"Internet of things" sounds like some retarded proprietary crap from some big-name company
Specifics (Score:4, Informative)
The interviewer does however ask him who the mother of the internet is.
Re:But why do we need the internet of things (Score:3, Informative)
What exactly are the upsides of having my fridge, toaster, microwave oven, sock drawer or fork connected to the internet?
Well a smart oven can be set to cook your meal when you hit a button on an app before you head home. A smart fridge can keep track of what food you have when it expires what you use then compile meal plans and grocery lists add to it a link to your smart bathroom scale, and smart shoes to measue the amount of physical activity you have throughout the day and it it opens up dynamic dieting meal plans. A houses light and sound system could detect what room you are in and turn on and off lights and speakers as you enter/leave. Given time I could come up with more applications but those were just the first ones to pop into my head.
You'd have to prepare the meal before hand and hope there's only one cooking step.
Fine if you're doing boxed dinners, but useless if you want to actually cook anything.
A smart fridge won't know when milk's gone sour before the date or when yogurt and cheese are still good a month after the date. Nor will they have a way to read the damned date on any of the brands I like. I sure as hell am not typing (or touching, or speaking) that shit in to the fridge. Nor would such a smart fridge need to be connected to the internet.
Every single suggestion I've seen about the "Internet of Things" has been solving problems that don't exist, and it's a long, long stretch to say they're actually solving anything. If you think smart watches bombed, wait til you see how the rest of this shit does in the market.