The last two years has seen the rise of "The Internet Of Things" (IoT) and with any new hype it has people talking about it in no time. Combined with terms as "Smart" is has created a new billion dollars global business. Has it really though? 

Let's first look at what "The Internet of Things" actually means. It might sound like an army of drones empowered by the internet but it is not. 

 The essence of the IoT lays in the fact that sensor driven hardware technology is being connected to the "internet". 

  The rise of mobile internet technology (3G/4G/LTE) combined with the increased access to and demand for bandwith in general has now enabled businesses and people to directly connect to various devices and sensors to the internet.  

 With all various types of sensors now being empowered via WIFI or bandwith the so called "Internet of Things" is merely a marketing term used to create additional revenues for either brand new products or existing products tailored to modern connectivity. 

 Make no mistake, having direct access to various sensors and being able to control those can enrich our lives, however a word of caution is needed. 

 Most of the sensors being tailored for connectivity operate on pretty much very old, backdated technologies and therefore could potentially pose a thread to our security and privacy. Most of the sensors that are older than five or ten years come without security patches or manufacturers have stopped developing those patches (most notably my four years old "Smart" TV). 

 The real threat in senor enabled technology lays in the sheer volume of (personal) data various manufactures or distributors are able to collect about our lives. The secure and safeguarded storage of the latter is of crucial importance. 

 As small example; You have a SMART (That is the buzzword here) alarm system in your house. The smart element is that you can program your alarm settings and remotely (from you drive way) disarm or arm it. Since the sensor technology is able to connect via internet or mobile connectivity all your personal movements (when you are home or out) is being registered and stored somewhere. Either someone with direct access or somebody who is able access your data (via more "creative means") can determine the times your home is "armed" and when it is "unarmed". The sensor on regular intervals will transmit a small signal indicating the status of your home. 

 The average hacker or more sophisticated hacker will have no trouble hacking the signal and collecting some potentially lucrative and personal data. 

Since SMART Homes are costly and if you are considering converting your home into one or buying a ready made one, you better get some assurance from the manufacturer or supplier regarding your data privacy and overall security. 

Last year a smart fridge (yes it exists) start posting reviews on Amazon, sounds funny but it shows you what you are up against.. read more about the reviewing smart fridge here

The last two years has seen the rise of "The Internet Of Things" (IoT) and with any new hype it has people talking about it in no time. Combined with terms as "Smart" is has created a new billion dollars global business. Has it really though? 

Let's first look at what "The Internet of Things" actually means. It might sound like an army of drones empowered by the internet but it is not. 

 The essence of the IoT lays in the fact that sensor driven hardware technology is being connected to the "internet". 

  The rise of mobile internet technology (3G/4G/LTE) combined with the increased access to and demand for bandwith in general has now enabled businesses and people to directly connect to various devices and sensors to the internet.  

 With all various types of sensors now being empowered via WIFI or bandwith the so called "Internet of Things" is merely a marketing term used to create additional revenues for either brand new products or existing products tailored to modern connectivity. 

 Make no mistake, having direct access to various sensors and being able to control those can enrich our lives, however a word of caution is needed. 

 Most of the sensors being tailored for connectivity operate on pretty much very old, backdated technologies and therefore could potentially pose a thread to our security and privacy. Most of the sensors that are older than five or ten years come without security patches or manufacturers have stopped developing those patches (most notably my four years old "Smart" TV). 

 The real threat in senor enabled technology lays in the sheer volume of (personal) data various manufactures or distributors are able to collect about our lives. The secure and safeguarded storage of the latter is of crucial importance. 

 As small example; You have a SMART (That is the buzzword here) alarm system in your house. The smart element is that you can program your alarm settings and remotely (from you drive way) disarm or arm it. Since the sensor technology is able to connect via internet or mobile connectivity all your personal movements (when you are home or out) is being registered and stored somewhere. Either someone with direct access or somebody who is able access your data (via more "creative means") can determine the times your home is "armed" and when it is "unarmed". The sensor on regular intervals will transmit a small signal indicating the status of your home. 

 The average hacker or more sophisticated hacker will have no trouble hacking the signal and collecting some potentially lucrative and personal data. 

Since SMART Homes are costly and if you are considering converting your home into one or buying a ready made one, you better get some assurance from the manufacturer or supplier regarding your data privacy and overall security. 

Last year a smart fridge (yes it exists) start posting reviews on Amazon, sounds funny but it shows you what you are up against.. read more about the reviewing smart fridge here

The hypothesis linking additional computing power to financial security is an interesting one, that begs a closer look and requires deeper thinking. 

The first question one needs to ask is what the definition of financial security exactly means? 

There are two definitions relating to financial security: Economic Security and Financial Security (which either relates to financial products or the safeguard of the financial data). 

Most of us will link financial security with economic and social security and expect financial institutions (Banks etc.)to guarantee our financial security (privacy data, digital financial balances etc.).

 What does an increase in computing power actually mean and what is the impact of it on our financial en economic security? 

The rise of machines has already drastically impacted on daily lives (in positive and negative ways). 

 The main reason for this being the rapid development and sophistication of the ability of computers to perform a wide scale of tasks more effective and efficient than humans. Lately Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others have publicly spoken about the fact that for the first time in history Artificial Intelligence (A.I) is capable of performing highly sophisticated tasks, previously only to be performed by humans. 

 More computing power means more opportunities to eliminate the human factor from many daily processes. Remember the ticket offices at train stations, airports? The last decade most of those have been replaced by machines and -we- accepted it without any problems. An increased human adaptability, combined with a demand for wireless, easy-to-go applications has seen the human race embracing technology. It is hard too imagine that 20 years ago people lived without a mobile phone, applications and accepted standing in a queue waiting to buy their tickets or check in. 

 However there is a downside to all of this. The increased computing power has made victims and will be making many more. 

 Increased computing power has seen economies all over the world boom over the last twenty years, yet unemployment has been on the rise, median incomes have stagnated. The group of humans that has actually benefited most of the increased computing power are those who are at the top of the human chain. The benefits enjoyed by this group far outweighs the benefits for the higher, median and lower incomes.

The real issue with increased computing power is not financial security, it is about wealth and income distribution, which as statistics show, increased computing power (over the last 30 years) has caused a negative effect on the overall wealth and income distribution. The main effect of increased computer power is one of disproportional economic and wealth distribution, which undermines the entire Western sense of both economic and personal security. 

 Is increased computing power the end of economic and social security? The first signs do indicate that increased computing power is developing faster than humans can comprehend.  

The coming decades will create an even greater divide between those humans who are going to be able to adapt and those who will not. 

In essence the economic gap between various classes will only increase, which will lead to social turmoil, effectively undermining the entire sense of security.

The great recession in the US (2007-2009) saw a whopping 12,000,000 jobs disappear. Only 1,000,000 of those jobs have returned, the remaining 11,000,000 have been made redundant due to bankruptcy, automation and increased computing power. Machines are taking over.

The real question one should ask is how far increasing computing power will benefit the entire human race or will it be the beginning of the end for the human race.