IoT Evolution Expo: Security in the IoT is an Issue of Risk and Liability

The IoT Evolution Expo kicked off today at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and we began with our Security Summit.

In the first of the three sessions in the Summit, Protecting and Defending the Edge, Clay Melugin, Senior Partner, RMAC Technology Partners, asked the packed room to consider the real risks and liabilities from not securing IoT devices appropriately.

“IoT liability is really an economic issue,” he said. “It’s easy to make an IoT device, but when you think about these devices you have to think about what the potential risks will mean. Something as simple as a thermostat can give people with malicious intent an access point to do incredible damage.”

He described a scenario where a malicious hacker gains control of dozens or hundreds of connected thermostats in homes in one city. This person then sets all those homes to a low heat setting for enough time to create a lull in the power grid, and then bumps them all up to a high heat setting, which manufactures a huge, sudden surge on the energy grid. That could set off a chain reaction to bring down major sections of energy infrastructure.

“As developers, we have a responsibility [as defined by the FTC] to the consumers to put in a ‘reasonable amount of security’,” he said. “It’s up to us to know what that means.”

We’ve got a lot more content coming your way from IoT Evolution Expo, so keep coming back for more. Also, keep up with the up-to-the-minute news on Twitter at #IoTEvolution, @IoTEvolution and @Ken Briodagh