Working with IoT from a software architecture perspective teaches you a lot, but leaves the nagging question “how does this really work?”. Theory is great and watching other people work is relaxing, but the time comes when I have to get my hands dirty. So I decided I had to actually implement an IoT project.

The first step was to define the goals for the project:

• Hands-on experience with Industrial IoT technologies. I’m much more interested in Industrial IoT than Consumer IoT. I am not going to have anything to do with an Internet refrigerator!
• Accomplish a real task with IoT:
  • Something useful and worthwhile; something that makes a difference.
  • Something usable – including by non-technical people!
  • Something robust and reliable. A system that can be expected to function for a decade or longer with essentially perfect reliability.
  • “Affordable” – a reasonably low cost entry cost, but with a bias toward functional capabilities, low maintenance, and long life. Balance initial costs with operational costs and minimize system elements that have monthly or yearly fees.
  • Secure – including system and network security. There will be much more on this topic!
• Learn how things really work. Engage in hand to hand combat with sensors, devices, systems, wired vs. wireless, reliability, usability, interoperability, and the myriad other factors that crop up when you actually try to make something work.
• A bias toward using commercial components and systems rather than building things out of Raspberry Pi and sensor modules. There isn’t anything wrong with Raspberry Pi and low level integration, I just wanted to work at a higher level.
• And, to be completely honest, to have an excuse to play with some neat toys!

Based on these goals I chose to work on home automation with a focus on security and lighting. After considering many things that could be done I chose to implement monitoring of fire, carbon monoxide, power, temperature, water intrusion, perimeter intrusion, and video monitoring. I also implemented lighting control with the goals of power savings, convenience, and having lights on when you come home. When designing and implementing the various subsystems I chose commercial grade monitoring, sensors and controls.

I sometimes get the question “do you live in a bad neighborhood?” No, I live in a great neighborhood. The main reasons for this project were safety, reduced power consumption, and an excuse to play with neat toys. Yes, I got carried away…

October 2016: Things Attack the Internet

In October 2016 several large Internet sites were subjected to a massive DdoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack carried out by hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of compromised IP video cameras and home routers. These attacks were some of the highest bandwidth attacks ever observed and are hard to defend against.

In January of 2017, an estimated 70% of the security cameras in Washington DC were compromised by malware and were not able to stream video. Workers had to physically go to each individual camera and do a fresh install of the original firmware to return them to operation.

Security experts have been warning about weaknesses in IoT for years. Many of these warnings are about how easy it is to compromise and subvert IoT systems. The October 2016 attacks showed that these IoT weaknesses can also be used to directly attack key parts of the Internet. A larger attack could potentially make the Internet unusable!

Since IP cameras were used in the first major attack by IoT on the Internet and I have several of these cameras installed in my system, let’s start our case study with with them.

The next article will begin exploring the capabilities, security, and business model of powerful and affordable IoT devices.

Next: Representative IoT Device: IP Video Camera [Survive IoT Part 2]