The National Institute of Standards and Technology released the first of what it says will be a series of reports on how to deal with the booming growth of devices that connect to the Internet via your network – aka the Internet of Things (IoT.)
NIST’s focus is on the cybersecurity and privacy risks of these devices, which include a broad range of gear, from medical monitors that send data to physician tablets to thermostats you control with your mobile phone.
The report comes just days after NASA’s Inspector General reported that hackers believed to be the Chinese group known as APT 10 used a Raspberry Pi to hack into NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs and steal Mars Mission data.
A Raspberry Pi is a $35 single-board Linux computer which can connect to the Internet. Buyers typically use it to learn programming and create simple automation projects.
The JPL Raspberry Pi had an unauthorized connection to the JPL network, the NASA Inspector General found.
NIST, in releasing its first report on IoT devices, said it believes many organizations are not aware of the large number of IoT devices already connecting to their networks and how those IoT devices may affect their cybersecurity and data privacy risks.
The organization believes IoT devices raise new issues regarding personally identifiable information compared to traditional computer network systems.
You can access the 44-page report here.