IoT DR SHIKHA GAUTAM

Environment characteristics
One of the important characteristics of Internet of Things is data collection from their
environment. This is achieved through dynamic changes that occur in the environment
around these devices. The state of these devices changes dynamically as well as the number
of devices with people, place and time.
The primary function of the Internet of Things is to gather data from its surroundings. The
data is accomplished through the dynamic changes around the devices. The condition of these
devices changes dynamically, such as sleeping and waking up, being connected or
disconnected, and the context of devices, such as temperature, location, and speed.
Connectivity and sensor technology help create a greener world, and the tech world is
beginning to see IoT devices increasing energy efficiency in homes and on farms.
Here are five ways the IoT is helping to reduce strains on the environment.
1. Green on the go
Intelligent, autonomous cars can usher in a new era of green driving by allowing cars on the
road to communicate and process what other vehicles are about to do.
This allows traffic to move at one speed with only a few meters between vehicles, reducing
the fuel inefficiency by the speed and gear changes of human-operated vehicles.
IBM’S Watson IoT Platform has been used to create a driverless car called Olli. The Watson
IoT platform analyzes the vast amounts of data from the vehicle's sensors, allowing it to
accelerate, decelerate, and change lanes without driver input.
2. Connected wildlife
IoT has been used to bring species back from the brink of extinction, with great success.
The Iberian Lynx was re-established in Spain after using IoT technologies to track and
monitor the few remaining wild lynxes.
How?
Using collars for geo-mapping their location and habits, together with connected drones,
which were much less invasive when tracking the animals, scientists and wildlife experts
were able to help re-establish the species.
3. Waste not
Leaving lights on, heating an empty house or heating water that no one will use are all big
energy wastes.
But smart and connected homes can prevent unnecessary energy use.
Like the Loxone Smart Home, there are programs already available that allow users to turn
lights on or off and control the temperature and boiler activity when out of the house.
Not only that, but cars can also connect to homes, creating a more comprehensive array of
efficiency-saving options.
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4. Sensing change
Sensors are more sophisticated than ever and can now be carried around by people with ease.
A range of sensors measure air quality and warn users through apps on their smartphones
when they are at dangerous levels or are likely to cause asthma.
This is helpful for the user and can also raise awareness of pollution and high emissions in
populated areas.
Similar devices are also used for working with radiation and miners. It's a good way of
driving communities and governments to combat rising pollution levels.
5. Smarter farming
Using smart sensors, farmers can reduce the amount of waste they produce and monitor their
agricultural processes depending on weather, humidity, sunlight, and other external factors.
It's also possible to reduce the amount of water used to hydrate growing crops when a sensor
discovers that the soil's moisture levels are just right. An IoT approach can help reduce waste
and increase energy efficiency in the farming world.

Traffic characteristics
Traffic characteristics study is very vital for designing the required geometric features in the
roadway. It includes volume of traffic, speed of traffic, and percentage of trucks or larger
vehicles like bus, etc.
Traffic characteristics are broadly classified under two types such as: 1) Road user
characteristics and 2) Vehicular characteristics.
Road user characteristics include the physical characteristic of driver like power of vision,
hearing and reaction time of the driver shown during a traffic situation.
Psychological characteristics includes emotional factors (anger, fear and anxiety),
environmental factors include atmospheric and traffic stream conditions.
Vehicular characteristics are classified as two types as follows. Static characteristics
involving the vehicular dimensions (length, wheel base, width, and center clearance) and the
dynamic characteristics (speed, power, acceleration) with the breaking characteristics.
It is an important characteristic of IoT due to which anyone at any time can connect from
anywhere. This allows network connectivity and device interoperability. IoT can also connect
manufacturing devices with identification, sensing, actuation, and network capabilities. The
connectivity allows these devices to be controlled remotely. If businesses neglect the IoT
connectivity, it can lead to project failures since strong connectivity ensures that these
devices are working properly.
By connecting everyday devices, connectivity enables the Internet of Things. Because simple
object-level interactions contribute to collective intelligence in an IoT network, connectivity
of these things is critical. It allows for network connectivity and device interoperability. The
networking of intelligent devices and apps can provide new commercial prospects for the
Internet of Things with this connectivity.
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One of the significant aspects of the Internet of Things is heterogeneity. Devices in the
Internet of Things are based on many hardware platforms and networks, and they can
communicate with other devices or service platforms over various networks. Direct network
connectivity between heterogeneous networks should be supported by IoT architecture.
Scalabilities, modularity, extensibility, and interoperability are the core design criteria for
heterogeneous things.

Scalability, interoperability, security and privacy

IoT scalability refers to the ability to go from prototype to production in a seamless way.
When people think of scalability outside the IoT context, they often envision cloud-based e-
commerce merchants quickly scaling up their ability to process orders on Black Friday. In
this case, they're serving a million customers in a day when they usually only need to process
10,000 orders. Similarly, in IoT deployments, companies need the ability to scale up and
down depending on the amount of data their fleet of devices is providing. To be successful,
you must be confident that the infrastructure, cloud, and connectivity layers can all scale with
you.
That software-layer scalability is critical, but because IoT encompasses hardware, the ability
to quickly iterate on your hardware design, deploy that hardware around the world on
different cellular networks, and stay within the bounds of the certification requirements is
equally important. This process often presents challenges because it can involve multiple
parts: different vendors, pieces of hardware, and cellular carriers. Scaling into new
geographic areas usually involves finding new carriers and seeking regional certifications,
draining time and resources in the process.
Why is Scalability Important in IoT?
In IoT, the ability to scale is key because it helps you prevent project failure.
Lots of IoT projects fail—up to 75 percent, according to an oft-cited 2017 Cisco report.
While that number might be shrinking by now, the metric remains a reminder of the many
challenges that come with IoT project development and deployment.
IoT involves a complex technology stack, and few companies have all the needed hardware,
software, and connectivity expertise in-house. For example, some companies have a strong
hardware background and an ability to integrate all the mechanical and electronic elements -
but they lack the expertise to build a connected user experience. Others specialize in software
and web development but don't fully understand the intricacies of IoT device management or
connectivity.
With gaps in either direction, scalability becomes complicated, and project failure is a real
possibility.
Common IoT Scalability Challenges
Avoiding failure in IoT means reducing the risks of your project. Most failed IoT projects
only work for a small subset of use cases or involve complicated processes to scale - like
customizations needed to deploy products in different regions or large retooling efforts to
take a prototype design into production. If there are delays or limitations once your product is
on the market, you're going to lose customers along the way.
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Reliability and scalability go hand in hand here. Before you launch, make sure you can reach
the number of devices and connectivity to properly deliver on the promises you make to your
customers.
Let’s take a closer look at a few common challenges for IoT scalability:
Security
When you deploy an IoT product at scale, it means more devices are in operation - and an
increase in the number of connected devices always creates more security threats. That's
because each new device adds another attack surface and more people have access to the
network.
Always searching for points of vulnerability, botnets pose a significant security threat to IoT
devices. If they find an open back door, they can bring down entire systems using Distributed
Denial of Service attack, which is a strategy that floods a system with messages and requests
to shut it down. If an IoT fleet provider experiences a DDoS attack, it could be the death blow
that kills a particular project - or the entire business.
Securing your IoT devices and the network as you scale up production and deployment can
be challenging, especially for smaller companies that may not have a dedicated team of in-
house cyber-security experts to aid them.
Device Management
IoT device management, especially after the devices have been manufactured and deployed,
is another challenging hurdle. Most electronic devices are sold and shipped with the latest
firmware. Still, it's essential to have a way to issue and load updates, including security
patches, as you discover new vulnerabilities and develop new features.
Connected devices need a reliable over-the-air service to provide periodic updates as they're
deployed, giving you the ability to push those updates quickly without the need for human
oversight on the device side.
Integrating hardware architecture with cloud and connectivity providers is another challenge
inherent in device management. It can be a complicated and challenging process when
companies attempt to integrate hardware, software, and connectivity themselves. One way to
avoid this headache is by choosing a single provider that can handle all three areas.
Cellular Coverage
Ensuring cellular coverage for an IoT deployment may also prove difficult, especially when
you're deploying devices across vast geographic areas.
Cellular connectivity is an essential piece of the puzzle for a successful deployment, as
interruptions can mean the loss of vital data. To manage cellular IoT deployments at scale,
companies have a host of strategic decisions to make about:

 Manufacturers and firmware (including whether to use a traditional SIM or eSIM that
enables OTA updates)
 Modem components and modules
 The microcontroller network stack
 SIM provider mobile network operator
IoT DR SHIKHA GAUTAM

 Roaming partner MNOs

 Radio Access Technology (2G, 3G, LTE, and various LPWAN cellular categories like
Cat 1, M1, NB-IoT)
 Regional certifications
 IoT protocols and standards
 Internet providers
There’s also the question of deciding between cellular vs. WiFi for your IoT project. The
choice depends largely on use case, but it's not always obvious which is best for your specific
deployment.
Finding a partner that can manage at least some of these decisions and negotiations can help
to simplify an otherwise complex problem.
Interoperability focuses on ensuring that two IoT systems or their components can engage
in a working interaction.
Figure shows the interaction of several IoT systems or peer IoT systems. For instance, a taxi
reservation service can interact with a traffic management system.

Interoperability points
Next figure shows the various interactions between components of an IoT system, each arrow
being an interaction capability or an interoperability point. Some interactions can be visible
by users, for instance, a smartphone can interact with a smartwatch. Others are internal, for
instance, an interaction between a security surveillance application and an IoT home gateway,
or an interaction between the home gateway and an intrusion detector.
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https://www.trialog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/interoperability10.gif
Next figure shows an example of an IoT system: a remote heating control. The user can use
the smartphone to control externally a heating device at home.

Importance of Security and Privacy in IoT

The Internet of Things or IoT landscape includes more devices with every passing day. By
2025, the world could expect around 64 billion IoT devices in use. The growth in the number
of IoT devices is definitely beneficial with a major transformation in the ways for carrying
out everyday activities. For example, smart lighting could help in reducing your electric bill
and energy consumption.
In addition, the benefits of connected healthcare devices have been helping people in
obtaining a better impression of their health. However, the benefits introduce prominent risks
with the number of growing devices. The growth in the number of connected devices in the
IoT ecosystem can present issues for security in IoT by offering more entry points for
cybercriminals and hackers.
The concerns of security and the issues of privacy in IoT present considerable implications
for different business organizations and public organizations. The interconnectivity of
networks in IoT introduces the accessibility from anonymous and untrusted online sources. If
anyone asks ‘Why security is important in IoT?’ you can point out IoT adoption.
Businesses have to work on enhanced security, especially for consumer-grade IoT-enabled
solutions, to encourage customer trust in IoT. Furthermore, the importance of security and
privacy in IoT is also clearly evident in the gradually increasing awareness of consumers
regarding the privacy of their data.
Understanding the Concept of Security in IoT
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Now that you know about the importance of security and privacy for the long-term growth of
IoT, it is reasonable to reflect on both of them individually. What are the factors associated
with the concerns of security in IoT? The Internet of Things landscape is gradually becoming
more diverse with legacy computing systems and modern computing devices. As a result, IoT
easily becomes vulnerable to a wide range of security risks in different approaches.
First of all, it is important to note that many devices in the IoT landscape are tailored for
large-scale deployment. The example of such devices refers to sensors. In addition, deploying
IoT devices also involves a set of similar or almost identical appliances with resembling
traits. The resemblance is responsible for magnifying the security vulnerabilities. While
security issues have been prominently noted in the information and technology sector, IoT
implementation has come up with some new challenges.
The answer to ‘Why security is important in IoT?’ is evident in the nature of
interconnectivity between the IoT devices. If a poorly secured device connects with the IoT
landscape, then it could affect the security and resilience of IoT. With a large number of
homogenous devices deployed in IoT, the IoT users and developers must ensure that they are
not exposing other users to potential harm.
One of the most prominent factors to draw your attention towards security in IoT would refer
to authentication. The authentication mechanisms used in existing IoT ecosystems are
restricted only to offering safeguards against limited threats such as replay attacks or Denial
of Service (DoS) attacks. It is also important to consider the role of information security as
one of the highly vulnerable domains of IoT authentication. Why?
The abundance of risky applications which enable a natural multiplicity of data collection
could present formidable information security risks. In addition, the importance of security
becomes clearly evident with the prevalence of man-in-the-middle attacks. Third-party agents
could intercept communication channels for impersonating identities of vulnerable nodes
associated with network exchange.

Understanding the Concept of Privacy in IoT

The next notable aspect in discussions on privacy and security in IoT refers to the way
consumers view privacy. People are likely to perceive the usefulness of IoT in accordance
with its effectiveness in safeguarding their privacy goals. The common assumptions
regarding privacy issues in IoT and the potential security issues could become formidable
setbacks in IoT adoption.
The aspects of user privacy and the rights of privacy are basic requirements for developing
the trust and confidence of users in IoT, connected devices, and associated services. At the
same time, the developments in IoT are focusing largely on addressing privacy issues in a
completely new way.
One of the most important concerns in understanding the issues of privacy in IoT would draw
attention towards reasons for privacy concerns. The IoT ecosystem has intelligent artifacts
present almost everywhere with flexibility for sampling process and information distribution
from any location.
In addition, the ubiquitous connectivity in IoT through the internet also plays a crucial role in
amplifying privacy concerns. Without a unique mechanism for privacy protection, the
ubiquitous connectivity of IoT could enable flexible access to personal information from any
corner of the world.
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Security Issues in IoT

With a clear impression of the significance of security and privacy in IoT, it is important to
find out the issues. Businesses could reap credible benefits from the capabilities of the
Internet of Things (IoT). However, the threats to security could present notable setbacks for
the effective adoption of IoT-enabled solutions. On the other hand, a clear impression of the
IoT security issues could help in developing suitable strategies for mitigation. Let us take a
look at some of the notable issues for security in IoT.

Inadequate Password Protection

Hard-coded and embedded credentials in IoT devices provide an easy target for hackers to
compromise the devices directly. Default passwords may enable hackers to enter the machine
without any obstacles. One of the examples of such an attack refers to the Mirai malware,
which infected IoT devices such as routers, video recorders, and video cameras. The Mirai
malware was successful in logging in by using 61 general hard-coded usernames and
passwords.
Subsequently, the malware brought almost 400,000 connected devices in its control and
resulted in the world’s first 1Tbps DDoS attack. The Distributed Denial of Service of DDoS
attack affects some parts of Amazon Web Services and its clients such as Twitter, Netflix,
Airbnb, and GitHub. Now in 2021, a Mirai-type malware, known as Mozi, is the most active
botnet.

Limited Compliance from IoT Manufacturers

Another important factor affecting the security factor in privacy and security in IoT refers to
the lack of compliance from IoT manufacturers. Many fitness trackers with Bluetooth
generally remain visible after pairing. Your refrigerator could give out your Gmail login
credentials.
As manufacturers continue the development of devices with limited security, the concerns
of security in IoT would definitely witness an upward turn. IoT device manufacturers have
started introducing internet connectivity in their devices without paying attention to the
‘security’ aspect in the product designing process. Some of the notable security risks for IoT
which are due to manufacturers include,

 Hardware issues
 Lack of security in data transfer and storage
 Hard-coded, weak, or guessable usernames and passwords

Device Update Management

The concerns of security and privacy in IoT could also refer to security issues due to device
update management. Insecure firmware or software could generally lead to IoT security risks.
Even if a manufacturer offers a device with the most recent software update, you will
encounter new vulnerabilities.
Therefore, updates are highly important for ensuring security on IoT devices, which should
be updated immediately after the discovery of new vulnerabilities. The use of IoT devices
without necessary updates could escalate the threats to their security. In addition, update
management can be risky due to the fact that devices will send backups to the cloud. Without
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appropriate encryption for the connection and protection for updated files, any malicious
agent could access sensitive information.

Lack of Secure Interfaces

The answers to ‘Why security is important in IoT?’ become clear with the security issues due
to insecure interfaces. All IoT devices are involved in the processing and communication of
data. The IoT devices need apps, protocols, and services for communication, and the insecure
interfaces are responsible for various IoT vulnerabilities.
You can find insecure interfaces in web, API, cloud, mobile, and application interfaces with
possibilities for compromising the device and data. The most common concern of security in
IoT interface is the lack of device authorization and authentication mechanism and weak or
no encryption mechanism.

Privacy Concerns in IoT

While the challenges to security are quite prevalent in IoT, the concerns of privacy are also
another critical factor. Many people also want to find out ‘What are the privacy concerns in
IoT?’ and the answers could help in improving IoT for large-scale adoption. Let us take a
look at some of the common privacy concerns in IoT which you can find today.

Abundance of Data
The data generated by IoT devices is radically staggering for all the right reasons. According
to the Federal Trade Commission, less than 10,000 households could create almost 150
million discrete data points daily. Therefore, you can clearly notice the increased possibilities
for breaches of privacy in IoT. You have more entry points for hackers while leaving
sensitive information and your IoT devices vulnerable.

Eavesdropping
IoT users would also have to find eavesdropping as one of the ominous answers to ‘What are
the privacy concerns in IoT?’ for specific reasons. Imagine a hacker using one of your smart
home appliances to snoop in your personal life. As a matter of fact, hackers and even
manufacturers could use a connected device to basically invading an individual’s home.
For example, researchers have been successful in eavesdropping in IoT by intercepting
unencrypted data from a smart meter device. The unencrypted data helped in identify the
television show an individual was watching at the particular instance of time.

Unwanted Public Exposure

The next and probably the most important entry among privacy issues in IoT would refer to
unwanted public exposure. IoT device manufacturers often have long documentation for
terms of service, and there is barely anyone who reads the document thoroughly. According
to the Federal Trade Commission, manufacturers and enterprises could leverage data offered
willingly by consumers for making employment decisions.
For example, an insurance company could collect information from an individual regarding
their driving habits through a connected car. Similarly, health or life insurance providers
could also use data from fitness trackers for calculating the insurance rates of different
individuals.
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Bottom Line
It is quite clear that the Internet of Things or IoT is all set to transform the way we perceive
devices. Now, it is possible to connect almost every device we can think of to the internet. As
a result, the continuously expanding network of IoT devices could only amplify the concerns
of security and privacy in IoT.
At the same time, it is also inevitable to note that security and privacy issues are common in
the domain of information and technology. You can also think of IoT in parallel with the
domain of information and technology to understand how an understanding of the security
and privacy issues related to IoT would support its long-term growth. Learn more
about IoT and develop a better understanding of the security and privacy risks.