Network service provider Ericsson announced Thursday, July 8th that the number of mobile subscriptions active worldwide has reached 5 billion. The recent surge in mobile usage, which include both basic cellular phones and “smart” devices, has been attributed to growth in emerging markets such as China and India.
Ericsson reports that mobile broadband subscriptions are also growing at a rapid pace, and are expected to reach over 3 billion by 2015, a massive increase from the 360 million subscriptions active in 2009. Experts now believe that soon 80% of all people connecting to the internet will doing so from a mobile device.
CNET News has published a comprehensive report on the state of smart grid security. In it, they detail the growing concerns among security experts that smart meter technology is being rapidly expanded around the world without the built-in security considerations necessary to protect the utility infrastructure — and the people connected to it — from serious cyber-crime.
According to the CNET report, the vulnerabilities in today’s smart meters could allow for a number of malicious attacks, including the theft of private consumer data, the disruption of power to specific buildings, and even the targeted outage of entire utility grids. Many experts quoted in the article believe that US smart meter manufacturers and utility companies are treating security as an afterthought in order to quickly take advantage of Federal stimulus money.
There are about 250 active smart-metering projects worldwide, with about 49 million meters already installed and 800 million planned for installation…. Projects in the U.S. are being accelerated because of the $3.4 billion in stimulus funds set aside for smart-grid technologies. About 60 million smart meters will be deployed in the U.S. this year, covering about half of households…. Security appears to be a casualty of this haste….
“Since there is no federal mandate as to how much security to have in the meters, there aren’t the right motivation factors for security to be a major factor…It’s an afterthought.”
According to one expert, “Prominently missing are signed and encrypted firmware, secure (smart card) chips for key storage, unique cryptographic keys, and physical tamper protection.”
We’ve previously discussed the growing concern surrounding the security weaknesses in today’s smart grid technology. In addition, we recently reported on the 60 Minutes investigation into the malicious hacks that have already hit the nation’s critical infrastructures.
A recent report on PC Authority takes an in-depth look at Intel’s Intelligent Home Energy Management dashboard prototype which interfaces with appliances and devices over Wifi as well as the low-power ZigBee standard. The dashboard features a touchscreen display that allows for easy management and adjustment of energy usage in the home.
According to PC Authority:
The dashboard pulls in a wealth of information from both inside the house and externally. [...]
Key to this is ZigBee…[the] low-power wireless technology designed for home appliances. For our demo this took the form of a dummy dryer that reported its energy use back to the dashboard. This not only showed just how much of the monthly power bill was down to the dryer, but it also gave the option of running the dryer during off-peak energy periods. There was even a screen designed to help users upgrade to a more energy efficient model, pulling in product data with energy star ratings from other manufacturers.
PC Authority notes that the prototype will not likely enter production for the mass market but exists to demonstrate the coming possibilities in the area of energy management.
With this increasing use of wireless and CPU-controlled technology in cars, The Sydney Morning Herald recently published a comprehensive look at growing concern that today’s–and tomorrow’s–automobiles are becoming increasingly vulnerable to hackers.
The big problem for car makers…will be those who open up their vehicles to add-on software applications, or “apps”….
In much the same way as we add software to a mobile phone today, some car makers envisage a future where owners can add functionality to their car via an internet connection. [...]
Ford has recently asked its US customers to nominate applications they would like to see in the connected car of the future, a move that suggests makers are getting serious about rolling them into vehicles.
Ford is developing apps for products such as the iPhone, so the car’s infotainment system can, say, recognise when a friend posts a comment on Twitter and then read you what was posted….
However, download from the wrong, untrustworthy source and – just like a computer – you could get more than you’ve bargained for.
The article also describes a number of new network-connected features in automobiles from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Toyota.
As internet connectivity continues to pop up in newly-designed devices, flat panel TVs are increasingly being integrated into home networks with a variety of new features. An estimated 19% of TVs sold in 2010 will feature ethernet connections, and developers like Netflix have seized the opportunity to provide content for these new devices.
A new report from technology research firm ABI Research estimates that in 2013 nearly half (46%) of flat panel TVs will be sold with built-in internet capability, and the report anticipates the unique challenges and opportunities created by this development. For example, due to the tight relationship between hardware and software in TVs, applications will have to be developed uniquely for each manufacturer.
However, despite the hurdles in programming, the analysts at ABI expect the growing popularity of internet-connected TVs to create a new array of opportunities for advertising and cross marketing in addition to new roles for manufacturers.
Few industries have been hit so hard by economic downturn as the automotive business, and what companies are left have gone back to the drawing board for new ways to reinvent their images. In the spirit of the times, Ford has introduced Sync, a Windows-based infotainment operating system designed to change the way that people interface with their vehicles.
Fastcompany reports that Ford has followed the unveiling of Sync with a contest for University of Michigan engineering students to show what cloud-based computing can do for cars. The first prize was claimed by Caravan Track, whose designers intended to create a social networking app for communication between multiple vehicles on a road trip.
Most of the entries displayed a similar tendency toward social networking and GPS, such as The GreenRide Challenge, which helps users to organize carpools and accrue points for a future reward system. The winning app was displayed at this year’s Bay Area Maker’s Faire.
Following closely on the heels of their purchases of PGP and VeriSign, Symantec has made a major investment in smart-device security specialist Mocana, actually leading the company’s C-round of venture financing. As part of Symantec’s new “Norton Everywhere” initiative–aimed at securing the growing world of internet-connected, non-PC devices–the resulting technology partnership will expand Symantec’s offerings into the “Internet of Things.”
A British researcher–using simple RFID technology–has become the first human “infected” with a computer virus. Using a contaminated implanted chip, he successfully transmitted the virus to other external systems.
As medical back office systems become increasingly high-tech — with medical records contained across a number of different IT systems — Dassault Systèmes, creators of data management suite ENOVIA V6, have paired with application developer echoBase to bring secure E-Medical records access to Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices. This new technology will give medical professionals mobile access to comprehensive patient data across the growing Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).
“The adoption of the iPhone and other mobile devices in the healthcare industry is just the latest example of how technology is creating greater transparency and an improved experience for consumers when dealing with service providers of all kinds. As a result, we see this as a natural use of ENOVIA V6’s data management and federation capabilities,” says Michel Tellier, CEO, ENOVIA, Dassault Systèmes.
As reported at Product Design & Development, the convenience of secure medical record access on mobile devices like the iPhone will ensure a more consistent patient experience with multiple providers, as well as freeing up 30-50 percent of doctor’s time spent entering patient data.
As reported in today’s New York Times, computer scientists are warning that internet-connected automobiles are as vulnerable to hackers as PCs. And in a soon-to-be-released paper, they suggest that today’s cars are under-secured against the dangerous threats posed by hackers accessing the cars remotely over the network.
As reported in the New York Times,
“We demonstrate the ability to adversarially control a wide range of automotive functions and completely ignore driver input — including disabling the brakes, selectively braking individual wheels on demand, stopping the engine, and so on,” [researchers] wrote in the report….
The research teams also claim that they were able to access a vehicle, remotely insert malicious code, and then completely remove any evidence of their intervention.
With the increasing popularity of wireless, internet-connected technologies in cars–such as “OnStar,” and other similar navigation and communications systems–more and more automobiles are becoming accessible through external networks. And as this technology proliferates, securing cars against hackers and viruses will become increasingly critical for driver safety.
Network service provider Ericsson announced Thursday, July 8th that the number of mobile subscriptions active worldwide has reached 5 billion. The recent surge in mobile usage, which include both basic cellular phones and “smart” devices, has been attributed to growth in emerging markets such as China and India.
CNET News
A recent report on 
We’ve previously reported on the 
As internet connectivity continues to pop up in newly-designed devices, flat panel TVs are increasingly being integrated into home networks with a variety of new features. An estimated 19% of TVs sold in 2010 will feature ethernet connections, and developers like Netflix have seized the opportunity to provide content for these new devices.
Few industries have been hit so hard by economic downturn as the automotive business, and what companies are left have gone back to the drawing board for new ways to reinvent their images. In the spirit of the times, Ford has introduced Sync, a Windows-based infotainment operating system designed to change the way that people interface with their vehicles.
Following closely on the heels of their purchases of PGP and VeriSign, Symantec has made a major investment in smart-device security specialist Mocana, actually leading the company’s C-round of venture financing. As part of Symantec’s new “Norton Everywhere” initiative–aimed at securing the growing world of internet-connected, non-PC devices–the resulting technology partnership will expand Symantec’s offerings into the “Internet of Things.”
As medical back office systems become increasingly high-tech — with medical records contained across a number of different IT systems — Dassault Systèmes, creators of data management suite ENOVIA V6, have paired with application developer echoBase to bring secure E-Medical records access to Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices. This new technology will give medical professionals mobile access to comprehensive patient data across the growing Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN).
As reported in today’s 
