Zhou Hongyi talks about three major threats in the Internet of Things era

I am often asked if the biggest threats and challenges for the security of the Internet and mobile Internet in the next five years.

My answer is very simple, the fourth industrial revolution brought about by the IOT (Internet of Things, IOT, generally translated into the Internet of Things) technology.

Now everyone is talking about IOT, this is indeed a great trend that is exciting and looking forward to. In the era of IOT, all the various hardware we can see and imagine, whether it is cars, homes, or wearable devices on our bodies, and even many devices in the industrial manufacturing field will be intelligent and Real-time connection to the network. And in my opinion, what is more exciting than 3D printing technology is that it will bring the fourth industrial revolution.

I also often communicate with many domestic manufacturers in the manufacturing field. For them, the most intuitive and biggest change that IOT technology brings to them is that they can reinvent the wheel. With IOT technology, although they still can't turn the wheels from round to square, they can add various smart chips and sensing technology to the wheels. At the same time, on this basis, they can also transform the business model from a simple one-time selling device to a real-time connection to the Internet, providing more Internet services and making money.

Undoubtedly, IOT brings a huge opportunity to connect the Internet with many online (online) and offline (offline) things. However, what I want to say today is that while bringing great opportunities, IOT will also bring enormous threats and challenges to our social and network security.

The possibility of a business or society being attacked will be greatly increased

In the past, traditional companies often like to say when they are deploying security. We isolate our network and then add a firewall to the border. With this kind of security prevention and control, you can sit back and relax, but it is not the case when you enter the IOT era.

After entering the IOT era, ubiquitous smart devices will be connected through Wi-Fi (a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to a wireless LAN), Bluetooth, and other wireless protocols, and the entire world will become an unprecedented link. A tight network, and the more connection points, the more likely it is to be attacked.

For example, there are many manufacturers who want to develop and manufacture smart cars. I have communicated with them. In their view, the biggest problem with smart cars in the future is not autopilot, nor motor charging, but consumers will worry about whether they will be attacked on the road.

Among them, some manufacturers think that their system is very strong and it is almost impossible to be attacked. Then I told him the truth: Bluetooth on your smart car, Wi-Fi, these may require you to use your phone to control. Once this is the case, I can control your phone first and then further control your car. Now, many hackers have tried to hijack a smart car like Tesla in a similar way, causing it to go wrong during driving.

This is just one example. In fact, the concept of border security will become very vague in the future. In the past, we said that terminal security is very important. After entering the IOT era, this terminal will grow indefinitely as the number of IOT devices grows, which brings countless attack points. Therefore, this is a huge challenge for each of our safe companies, and certainly a huge opportunity.

Physical damage and personal injury that may occur

In the past, we said that cyber attacks: If the computer is attacked, the possible consequence is nothing more than loss of some files; if the mobile phone is attacked, privacy leakage may occur, and online fraud may occur. But once the IOT era is truly in place, IOT devices are fully popular, and this kind of attack on IOT devices is very likely to bring huge physical damage or personal injury.

The most typical example is the car. As I said before, there is a hidden danger of being attacked by a smart car. Imagine what happens if your car suddenly crashes during driving or suddenly stops on the highway. I am afraid the consequences will be very serious. Such a situation is not uncommon in Hollywood blockbusters in the United States. For example, in Bruce Willis’s "Die Hard" (Part 5), terrorists control the factory through the network, control traffic lights, and control the elevator. Even controlled the door locks of others. The result of such a cyberattack is naturally more serious than the loss of information and personal privacy data. In the future, this will not only happen in a science fiction movie.

Privacy issues caused by user big data

Although we are talking about big data now, in fact, I feel that the real era of big data has not really come. In the PC (Personal Computer) era, we only generate some data during working hours. In the era of mobile Internet, because of the popularity of smartphones, the data is much more than before. In addition to sleeping, we are all using mobile phones, and various APPs (applications) generate various data. But these relative IOT eras are basically incomparable.

After entering the IOT era, the number of IOT devices will be 10 times that of the current one. There are 688 million Internet users in China now, assuming that one person uses two mobile phones in the future, one iPhone (Apple mobile phone) and one Android (Android mobile phone), which is nearly 1.4 billion mobile devices. In addition to mobile phones, each of us will have at least 5 to 10 smart devices, and there may be about 20 smart devices in the home. Even small items such as light bulbs and sockets will be connected to the Internet. So the whole calculation, you will find that the number of IOT devices in the future will be 10~20 times now, that is to say, in the Chinese market only a few years later, the number of such smart terminals may reach 14 billion to 28 billion. This is undoubtedly a huge number.

In addition to the large number, IOT equipment has a feature. For example, today's sports bracelets or smart watches, when we sleep, it is also working, it will upload our data to the cloud 24 hours a day, which means that each person's data in all dimensions will be collected, you will It is true that there is no era in which any individual has no privacy. For technology, we have turned into a transparent digital person, and all your data will be taken to their servers by different Internet companies.