Cyber security to go public with IoT catching up

Technology leaders are getting into their feet as newer challenges in cyber security is fast coming up. Forget professional sports, celebrities and #MeToo, cybersecurity is today’s real headliner. With people embracing social media so persistently, it has become an integral part of our lives now. It is being used not only by individuals but also businesses, organisations and governments, who are utilising social media platforms for constant engagement with the masses.

Anxiety and depression is the most underrated disadvantage of social media. Anyone who gets trolled over social media or is harassed easily gets into depression. The person who is trolled by social media can’t get out of depression easily. A survey revealed that there have so many cases where people were harassed and they went into severe depression, sometimes leading to deaths and suicides.

It’s true that social media has proved to be very useful for everyone and it offers a global platform to share and express, but its constant engagement is affecting individual productivity, relationships and society as a whole. With the rise of hackers and hacker tools active, the issue of cyber security is making big appearances in politics, national security and even personal life. 

IoT is taking the center stage, with the smart devices, IoT and Connected Cars, sensor design and integration supporting it. As per Counterpoint survey, Baidu launched three smart speakers with DuerOS (AI from Baidu in China) - Little Fish VS1, Sengled, and PopIn Aladdin. All these speakers are unique in their own ways targeting specific niche area. Little Fish VS1 is a smart speaker with a display attached to the top. The Sengled smart speaker comes with smart light capabilities. PopIn Aladdin named after Baidu’s Japanese subsidiary PopIn, is a smart speaker which is a light mounted on the ceiling, designed for small households of Japan. This is a significant step for the company to be aggressive in its key markets to fine-tune its Artificial Intelligence capabilities. With China’s existing hardware ecosystem, the next steps for the company would be to focus on the partnership model with OEMs for rapid expansion of its ecosystem.

Samsung highlighted its vision for intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) experiences

As the industry is moving from Industrial IoT to Consumer IoT, Samsung clearly stated that it is not left behind in this race. Apart from Smart connected TV and refrigerators, Samsung highlighted its strategies and commitment towards IoT.

* In 2017, Samsung spent more than $14 billion on R&D
* Samsung also created a new AI Center which includes four labs in Toronto, Montreal, Cambridge (UK) and Russia
* Samsung already established its End-to-end IoT Platform known as ARTIK
* Samsung's emphasis on SmartThings Cloud Service would further establish its line of IoT module platform solutions
* Samsung demonstrated its vision for more comfortable driving with 5G connectivity

Samsung already has a huge installed base of Consumer electronics devices. The global giant claims that 90% of it is IoT ready and 1 billion are already connected. Further, the company targets to make all its devices IoT and AI enabled by 2020. Samsung's  announcement was more focused on long-term strategies and plans on IoT development. However, the market was expecting more new launches of Consumer IoT devices and will likely to face tough competition from existing module makers like Sierra Wireless, Gemalto, U-Blox, etc.

Lenovo launched a portfolio of devices across different segments from PCs to VR to AI to Mods. Mobileye’s autonomous driving technology is going to be used in two million vehicles and Toyota announced to provide Alexa support in its cars.

Cybersecurity is everywhere these days. But that’s not to say we are ready for it. With its ubiquity, cybersecurity is exposing all-new challenges and opportunities for infosec professionals, politicians and law enforcement alike.