Internet of Things Will Be Fertile Ground for Cybermarauders

The Internet of Things that will connect virtually all electronic devices in a surge of ubiquitous networking will be a target-rich environment to terrorists, saboteurs, criminals and other cybermarauders, according to a panel focusing on that aspect of future cyberspace.

The afternoon panel at the AFCEA/INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit 2014, being held September 18-19 in Washington, D.C., explored the intelligence implications of the Internet of Things. Robert Gourley, partner, Cognitio Corporation, stated unambiguously that network managers have not been able to protect existing network nodes, and they do not seem to be protecting mobile computing devices. So, he asked, how will they protect all these devices now hooked into the Internet?

The result will be an environment that will be exploited by cybermarauders. “There are going to be really bad, bad people who will be using this Internet of Things with us,” he said. “They’re going to out-innovate all of us—all of you,” Gourley told the audience.

Panel moderator Rhonda Anderson, deputy national intelligence officer for science and technology, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, pointed out that the majority of the devices that will be connected to the Internet are not created in the United States. Serious supply-chain issues will arise, she offered. Ironically, Gourley suggested that the Internet of Things actually will protect supply chains better.

Gourley called for creation of a corps of offbeat thinkers to defeat these cybermarauders. “Intelligence S and T should not stand for scientific and technical,” he said. “It should stand for sick and twisted. We need folks thinking about how to crack this stuff so we can penetrate adversaries and bring back data without worrying about privacy and security.”