Are We Really Surprised That Our Smart Devices Are Used For Widespread Cyber Attacks?

For those interested in scenario planning, there are black swan events that are considered low-frequency/high-impact events, and those that are more like white swans that are high-frequency/low-impact events. Typically when a black swan happens, it takes a majority of people by surprise--for a moment, after which comes the 20/20 hindsight knowledge: "If you really think about it," so the typical response goes, "we saw that one coming over a year ago when . . ." 

Black swan events don't take place often, but like a tsunami beginning as faint vibrations on the ocean's floor, there are tell-tale signs that present themselves to the scrupulous.

Last week's massive internet crash is the perfect example of a black swan that had tell-tale signs. According to MIT Tech Review, the crash was caused by a DDoS attack (Distribution Denial of Service) in which servers were bombarded by requests from other servers that caused the meltdown. What we're learning now is that the DDoS attack was armed with internet of things technology, in which one's 'smart' fridge and 'smart' TV--and any other smart device in one's home--were harnessed by hackers and unleashed on Amazon, Twitter, and other large social networking sites.

Did we not see this coming? There has been so much written about the internet of things, both positive and negative. To me, it's pretty obvious that if you have a device connected to the internet--even something as unassuming as a blender or refrigerator--then you'll have a potential object used for all kinds of nefarious purposes from surveillance to cyber-attacks. 

And yet, for all the negative press these appliances are getting, people insist on buying them: they want to get the smart TV as a two-for-one deal on a smart refrigerator. But do they not understand what it all means? First of all, such devices track your voice, your movements, and your purchase history--whether Netflix movies or containers of yogurt. Second, by virtue of being connected to the Internet, your device can be summoned by hackers into a massive cyber-army, as last week's cyber-attack has revealed. 

Technology always presents us with trade-offs, often convenience for a loss of freedom or privacy, though I don't know what's convenient about a TV video recording a couple having a date in front of a movie, or a refrigerator tracking the particular kind of orange juice I drink--not to mention when I drink it--as well as my penchant for peanut butter. 

Some would just blow this off as being insignificant; that disparaging the internet of things is a conspiratorial position on a very clever and useful technology. 

Nevertheless, such a care-free attitude toward the technology, and the routine purchasing of smart products, will put our institutions at greater risk of similar, if not larger, DDoS attacks in the near future. 

Did you ever think your refrigerator would be political?