Everyone today is talking about Big Data and IoT, and I’m sure you’ve heard them being mentioned in numerous TED talks. You may ask though, what exactly are they and what do they mean?
IoT is basically described as the “Senses” while Big Data is the “Fuel” and artificial intelligence is the “Brain” of the future of a smart connected world. The real value of IoT is about creating smarter products, delivering intelligent insights and providing new business opportunities which triggering a massive influx of Big Data. This is done so through increasing the connectivity of devices around our environment.
While IoT devices come with increased connectivity and convenience, it also comes with it’s share of dangers and issues.
1. High Data Volume Leads To Cyber-Security Risk
With the sheer volume of data being collected daily, it poses as a significant threat to cyber-security. With the increasing development of IoT, cyber security risk is here to stay. Companies need to be more vigilant on who they employ to secure their networks and devices against unwanted cyber attacks, as they possess significant amounts of sensitive consumer data. A cyber attack can also hinder business operations.
One example that happened last year was Singapore Health System. This is one of the most serious data breaches in Singapore to date, which caused 1.5 million patient records being accessed and copied by the hackers.
Another example was Uber being hacked and ransomed by hackers.
In 2016, Uber suffered a data breach, where hackers stole personal data which included the names and driver license number of about 600,000 drivers in US. Although the data breach was damaging, the decision by Uber to pay a $100,000 ransom to cover up the breach and destroy the data led to even more negative publicity to the brand.
2. Increasing Connectivity Leads to Increasing Vulnerability
With the increasing number of IoT devices, any weak point in a company or home can be exploited. A casino was even hacked through their fish tank, which was connected to a wireless network! In the digitized world today, every action that you do transmits data, whether you click on a link or purchase something. This can include your personal information, credit card details or medical records.
A Federal Trade Commission report stated that 10,000 households can generate 150 million data points daily which provides a significant number of entry points for hackers. With IoT devices all connected to a wireless network, this information can bounce around and eventually find its way to a device that had no initial connection to your data.
3. More Data May Create More “Headaches” for Marketers
With the continuous exponential growth of data, especially around IoT, there will definitely be massive pressure on marketers to filter and select which data to capture and which will be relevant. The pressure of analyzing data will increase over time as it is hard to determine which data will be useful today or in a few year’s time. Overall, the limitations for marketers at the moment is that there are way too many variables to look at, which restricts marketers from gaining a complete view of consumer behavior.
What do you think are the steps or precautions that companies should take to avoid privacy or security issues to happened?
Below is a short video where I find it really useful about ways to protect your company from data breach.
DiGiTure 
Government can see what I comment xD.
We have seen many cases wherein cyber security was breached. When will we learn that big data may not necessarily be the best for us? (So many instances in the political realm can be found in recent news too.)
For marketers, I opine that big data can be a distraction. We are so overwhelmed by data and spent so much time Analysing the different data points such that we might miss out the intangibles that their values may not be easily captured by data.
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Hey Jamie, it’s ok what we are stating is facts ;D There were many incidents that happened especially in the recent years, like the one that could possibly affect us which is Singhealth and also several other big brands like T-Mobile, British Airway, Cathay Pacific, Facebook and many more. Millions of people were affected and this goes to show how much data an organisation keeps. In my opinion, I agree that it may be really difficult to capture intangibles data, however, I agree with Isaac that it is not impossible. Given the technology is advancing rapidly, I agree its a matter of time and how they would actually do it is a question mark.
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The only person who does not have a digital footprint, is the unborn child. It is no longer a question of what can be prevented to mitigate dangers, but the way we use(post and upload) information.
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Hi B, I think even an unborn baby may already have digital footprint, like ultrasound scan pictures. Yes, I think like what you said, I agree that the control is really in our hand as to how much we are willing share.
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It’s a side effect of the digital age that has started to fully blossom in the 2010s.
Some other pointers before getting to your main question at the end:
1. I don’t believe that marketers are having ‘headaches’ trying to filter data, Big Data is basically a heavenly buffet for them. It’s more a question of resources and needing new and upgraded skills to make the most of it. You see many big companies from all industries starting to place increased emphasis on hiring data scientists and generating models to take advantage of user data, from Facebook to Amazon to Netflix and even the government. As mentioned in my comments in your earlier post about LBS, with the CORRECT regulatory framework both corporations and consumers stand to gain from the correct usage of Big Data.
Now to the main question. I think it’s frankly an arms race between hackers and companies regarding safeguarding our private data to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, and hackers will always get ‘first move advantage’ being the attackers. It’s an undeniable downside of Big Data, but it’s part of the digital age and that risk is here to stay, so the best we can do is suck it up, come to terms with it and do our best to protect ourselves whilst distancing ourselves from services which don’t place an emphasis on user security and privacy.
Also regarding Jamie’s comment, I am of the opinion that there’s no such thing as an ‘intangible’ that can’t be classified as data, it’s just we’re not advanced enough yet. Even if we were to talk about love, or other human emotions, it’s all a product of hormones (or a combination of them) and the environmental influences, and I believe in the future everything (or close to everything) can and will be quantified as numbers on a scale, which is why companies and governments won’t say no to Big Data
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The biggest problem I feel is that consumers are unaware of the amount of data we provide to companies. It’s not a coincidence that when we search for flights to maldives, and browse facebook the next day, ads for hotels in maldives appear. Facebook is a free-to-use platform, which means quite frankly that if we aren’t the consumer, we’re the product. Facebook and other sites have been collecting and selling our data since its inception, it’s their whole business model. The Cambridge Analytica scandal just served to highlight it to the public.
For the marketers, the real headache and danger is that some firms get caught up with everyone doing big data analysis and try to do it without truly understanding the tangible benefits it brings to their firm. This business model just serves to bring costs to the business that doesn’t know how to turn the data into profit. It’s important to remember that we shouldn’t use AI for the sake of using it, but only when it truly benefits us.
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Hey, yes it is definitely not a coincidence, personally I have experience such things before. Just an example, recently I was searching for a glass photography ball online and the next day I received an email from Amazon advertising such products to me. This goes to show without me actually searching on Amazon website they are still able to do targeted marketing to their consumers.
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