Episode 87: We’ll govern the internet of things with mob rules

Gosh, it’s another week and another show that features security. We kick it off with this week’s news that features ransomware, botnets and a report from the Department of Homeland security discussing the internet of things. Kevin and I then touch on Intel’s new IoT chief and new Automated Driving Group as well as a bunch of Amazon Echo news. Finally, I discuss my impressions of the IFTTT integration with the Kevo lock and gripe about some frustrating sales practices by August.

The August doorbell cam courtesy of August.
The August doorbell cam courtesy of August.

It’s not all complaints on the show. My guest this week is Nick Feamster, the co-editor of a report out last week by a non-partisan group of technical experts focused on how to secure the internet of things. Feamster offers some tangible suggestions and directions where the industry can play a more active and helpful role. We discuss everything from how to create over the air updates that can be authenticated to how to create new types of routers to improve home IoT security.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guest: Nick Feamster, professor of computer science at Princeton
Sponsors: Samsung ARTIK and Bluetooth

  • The future may have more cyber extortion than cyber warfare
  • Intel’s new automated driving boss is the same as the old (IoT) boss
  • You shouldn’t claw back functionality on a connected device for a fee
  • Want to secure IoT? Start with routers
  • Should your ISP help secure connected devices?

Published by

Stacey Higginbotham

I am a journalist who has covered technology for over a decade at publications such as Fortune, PCMag, Gigaom, The Deal and BusinessWeek.

4 thoughts on “Episode 87: We’ll govern the internet of things with mob rules”

  1. According to IFTTT: “All Recipes run on a 15 minute polling period unless a Quick Trigger is involved. Please see here: ifttt.com/wtf#polling. Some services may take a little longer to update their API with new and relevant data.”

  2. I honestly had to stop 27 minutes in; if I want to hear some guy get REALLY super excited about vague BS, I’ll listen to Trump. I don’t normally complain about podcasts, and I love this one, but if it’s just going to be a platform for Bluetooth muppets to hype their new format, I’ll move on. Just edit him out after he refuses to answer, “What does this *mean* for the home consumer?”

    1. The Bluetooth segment was a sponsored message, and I had thought that was clear. So unlike Kevin and I talking or my conversation with Nick Feamster, this was an interaction paid for by the Bluetooth SIG.

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