The Internet of Risky Things: Trusting the Devices That Surround Us

by Sean W. Smith

By 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) will consist of millions of computational devices intimately connected to real-world aspects of human life. In this insightful book, Professor Sean Smith, who worked in information security long before the web appeared, explains that if we build the IoT the way we built the current internet and other information technology initiatives, we're headed for trouble.

With a focus on concrete solutions, The Internet of Risky Things explains how we can avoid simple flaws that have plagued several dramatic IT advances in recent decades. Developers, engineers, industrial designers, makers, and researchers will explore "design patterns of insecurities" and learn what's required to route around or fix them in the nascent IoT.


Examine bugs that plague large-scale systems, including integer overflow, race conditions, and memory corruption
Look at successful and disastrous examples of previous quantum leaps in health IT, the smart grid, and autonomous vehicles
Explore patterns in coding, authentication, and cryptography that led to insecurity
Learn how blunders that led to spectacular IT disasters could have been avoided

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2017

Reviews

[Alex Riina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic overview of a ton of issues related to IoT ranging from cryptography to equality. Definitely on my "read this again" list.

[Adarsh Khare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview on the challenges related to IoT security and risks involved. Sean touched technical details on each challenge and why our current implementation patterns are not enough to build a safe world surrounded by automation and connected devices. His list of references in each chapter is good list to follow up when you want to know more details on specific incident and or technology.