Internet of things: Connect your TV, home, even your body, to the internet. But beware hackers

You may have noticed that there’s a lot of talk about the “internet of things” – things that aren’t computers but with connectivity, such as appliances and sensors. Think of an internet-connected lightbulb, thermostat, door lock, washing machine or oven you can control from inside or outside your house. Think of a bridge that can communicate when its concrete structure is starting to show signs of ageing in places that can’t be reached by normal inspection. Think of a car that communicates with other cars about traffic and road conditions.

It’s a thrilling concept if you believe in the power of the internet to transform our lives, and connectivity and intelligent (or at least constantly monitoring) systems to improve our wellbeing. And that’s before you get into the question of how many of the “things” might be objects that you swallow or have otherwise inserted into your system, temporarily or longer term. There’s already a system for rotating computer hard drives called Smart that often gives you a warning if your drive is ill (drives can fail without Smart warning you, but a warning ahead of time should be taken seriously). What if you could have a similar warning for your boiler, or oven, or your heart?

That’s the sort of promise that the internet of things holds, which is why lots of companies are putting serious money into it. Samsung is investing $100m. Meanwhile, UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom has set out plans “to ensure the UK plays a leading role”, noting that there are already 40m devices connected via the IoT in the UK, and that is expected to grow eightfold by 2022.

However, while I like the possibilities, I worry just a bit about the implementation. Remember the denial-of-service attacks that took Sony’s PlayStation network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live networks offline at Christmas? Security experts reckon the source was largely reliant on home routers – yes, those things that pipe the internet into your house – which had been subverted because they all used the same factory-default password, and all accepted direct logins. At which point everyone slaps their forehead and says, really? Did millions of routers ship with a simple default login user and password (say, “admin” and “password”) that people weren’t encouraged to change, or perhaps couldn’t change? And the answer is yes: pretty much all of them do, and you’ll find them listed at Routerpasswords.com, which ought to scare you. (BT’s Home Hub, which is used by millions, is manufactured by Huawei; however, they come preconfigured with a non-default password and internet administration turned off.

Still, everyone knows this now, and nobody will be foolish enough to ship lots of things with default passwords, will they? I’m not so sure. The internet of things will grow biggest if it has an open structure – if devices can connect to the internet and each other easily. If we have to enter a 12-character gobbledegook hexadecimal password on dozens of devices around our home, we’ll want some pretty dramatic payback; turning lights on and off won’t really do it, will it?That doesn’t mean that there aren’t millions of routers out there whose makers and users haven’t been as careful, though. Oh, and it’s not just routers: the Raspberry Pi, the credit card-sized computer that’s Britain’s most beloved since the Spectrum, ships with root login enabled, using the same password on every device. (So, change that password.)

For that reason I have a sneaking expectation that many devices will come with default logons and passwords, a default set of open ports, and software that will just about do the job; the only way the internet of things will get big is by getting cheap, and there’s a natural tension between “cheap” and “configured with a unique setup”. Yes, manufacturers can write software that will give every device they make a unique password; but then life for the end user becomes complicated, not to mention remote access.

I don’t think there’s a simple answer to this problem, which is why I’m both thrilled at the idea of the internet of things, and a little wary of it. I might be able to configure the things I deploy safely. But will everyone else? It didn’t happen for routers. What happens when it’s door locks, ovens or even hearts?