What is the Internet of Things and how is data affected?

“What is the Internet of things?” is quite a powerful question and a popular term that is bouncing around in the work place and externally at the moment. The Internet of things can affect how we live and work and as such isn’t something to be ignored as tech speak. Understanding what it is and what impact it will have on you and your connectivity in your home and at work is paramount, and we need to understand a few things first.

In its simplest form the “Internet of things” (IoTs) is the connection of any device or object to the internet and to each other, creating an unlimited world of possibilities for all of our devices, appliances and various components. It’s believed that in the future this connectivity will extend from our cell phones to the washing machine, air conditioner, lighting system and so much more, with each device having the ability to send and receive data. The idea is to create a powerful network where billions of devices are connected. People can connect with people, people can connect with things and things can connect with things! That’s the concept in a nutshell.

How does the Internet of Things affect you and your data?

For starters, everything that can connect will be connected – which will certainly affect your lifestyle. Your coffee machine will make your morning coffee before you get out of bed, your car will select the best route to avoid rush hour traffic and guide you to an open parking spot, even informing colleagues or clients that you will be running late, if you are. The potentials are limitless and the conveniences obvious.

There are four three components that make up the IoTs, namely:

  • The Device – the device or tablet that encompasses the software to connect
  • The Local Network – these networks pick up the signal from the device and translate the data into something compatible with internet protocols.
  • The Internet – the key feature of any device, regardless of whether it is connected to a local network data still needs to be sent through the internet.
  • Back-end services – this is how the transformed data is actually displayed on the device.

When it comes to your data and personal information, security is a major concern. In fact, the security of the IoTs is often a hot debate. There are concerns that hackers could gain access to any of your many connected devices and appliances and that way, gain access to your network and sensitive data. Of course all of your devices will be producing large amounts of data too. This data will need to be analysed, stored safely, tracked and deciphered. That needs to be kept too – encryption is a key element.

It will be interesting to see just how the Internet of Things pans out.

With the coming of a new era and the changing of technological times, it is becoming increasingly obvious that we need to protect our data and personal information. At Soteria Cloud we offer professional data protection advice as well as Cloud Backup services that offer encrypted security. To learn more, get in touch with us today.

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