IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015 - 60

AIOS is much more efficient than
6LoBTLE, because it omits
addressing across the network.
There are defined methods to secure the standard radios
(802.11, 802.15.4, and Bluetooth), but they are optional to use.
Designers of trustworthy systems must require these methods.
Furthermore, there are relationships between application clients and application devices. They should require end-to-end
security for those relationships. Over the Internet, these are
TLS [43] and DTLS [42].
Using both security methods decreases the chances that a
hack on a link exposes an unencrypted application link or that
a hack on a given applications link lets an attacker compromise
a particular device. Combining the two methods, device-todevice and end-to-end, makes the security technology mathematically hard.
However, that doesn't mean we will be safe. We will just
ensure that the primary "attack surface" for hackers is social. An
attack must lie (e.g., phishing or spamming) to someone so the
victim user surrenders enough information to allow an attacker
break into a system. The end users themselves will be the weakest links.

PRIVACY
Privacy is a different problem that cuts in the opposite direction. Most wireless communications systems include some
kind of MAC address so that devices can recognize each
other. The upside is that these are needed for the wireless
methods to work. The downside is that listeners can recognize and track the MAC addresses of individual users. This is
done today by police and security forces, corporations, and
private hackers.
Privacy models are not common in wireless technology.
However, Bluetooth Low Energy has a simple privacy feature
that can be used [46]. It allows two types of addresses: public
(assigned by IEEE [54]) and private.
To work well, a connection is first established using public addresses and then security is applied. At that point, a pair
of devices can mutually agree to start using private (random)
addresses. At an agreed time, a pair of devices stops using the
public addresses, exchanges private addresses, and starts
using those private addresses. A passive eavesdropper would
not be fooled in a confined space, but in a public space, he/
she could be confused listening to pairs of devices.
In a smart home environment, privacy might not matter
much because devices will be installed in a fixed location; however, privacy will matter for mobile users. A given smartphone
will have a MAC address for 802.11 and another MAC address
for the wide area network (e.g., LTE), which do not change, and
a passive listener can follow those MAC addresses.
As we see the current Internet of Threats, it is tempting to
reengineer the Internet to require authentication, meaning
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everyone is identified. The flip side of that is that no one is
private. There will be nowhere to hide from dangerous private hackers, government agencies, or corporations.

INTERIM CONCLUSION
The story of home automation with compelling applications
that works and can be trusted is not yet fulfilled. Despite
decades of work, the IoT is still in gestation. As some governments have said: let a thousand flowers bloom. They are certainly blooming, but all blooms eventually fade and die.
In this business evolution, companies and consortia will
borrow ideas from each other trying to find compelling applications that don't scare the users with untrustworthiness.
This will be a mature industry when a customer can buy a
device or application, install it, and it just works. Further, it
has to work when more devices and applications from many
different manufacturers are installed. Then, when that customer sells his/her home, the same devices and applications
can be retained rather than ripped out and replaced by a new
system. Perhaps, this will happen in our lifetimes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joseph Decuir (jdecuir@ieee.org) has been a standard architect developing technologies for use in the Internet of Things.
He has been contributing to public engineering standards for
nearly three decades. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a member of
the IEEE CE Society Board of Governors, and a CES Distinguished Lecturer. He is also the chair of the 2015 IEEE Global
Humanitarian Conference (www.ieeeghtc.org).

REFERENCES
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[3] Samsung CEO addresses CES 2015 on Internet of Things. [Online].
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015
