Computer engineer Eliseo Delgado is a tech reviewer in his spare time who stays current with trends and newsworthy topics in the consumer electronics and technology fields.
Eliseo Delgado
Here, he shares his insight on the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the rising predicament of cybersecurity surrounding it.
Eliseo Delgado has covered topics ranging from artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles all the way to reviews on common consumer technology. In his reviews, he shares the pros and cons of consumer purchases and details whether devices will hold up in the evolving tech field. He’s always held an interest in the growing capabilities of the IoT and personally owns many electronic devices that communicate using the technology.
“The smartphone is the new hub for IoT technologies,” says Eliseo Delgado. “From my phone, I can control the temperature in my house, control the light settings, monitor my home remotely with a camera at the front door and a lot more.”
Through the IoT, refrigerators can communicate with programs to ensure users are notified when they run out of a grocery item. The same technology links up Bluetooth speakers to audio sources and can be used to stream shows from cable boxes to tablets and other external devices. Eliseo Delgado believes most people today have at least one or two devices connected through the IoT and is sure that number will climb to ten or more per-person within the next decade.
The rising concern with connected devices is the seeming lack of cybersecurity. Many consumer electronic devices come with hard-coded built-in passwords that other devices can access. Most times these passwords are never presented to consumers, giving them no control over how strong or weak they are. This leaves room for outside threats and the potential hijacking of electronics and information stored within them.
The FIDO Alliance began in 2012 with a mission to help establish standards for online verification and security without passwords. It’s a respected organization that has gained approval from major companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft who rely on it as an added security measure. The Alliance has created a new division, the IoT Technical Working Group, to provide the same protection services for connected gadgets now and in the future.
“FIDO is leading the fight to make safer, more secure electronic devices that have stronger password protection,” says Eliseo Delgado. “The group will help improve security standards for online authentication while remaining careful not to overcomplicate the process for consumers.”
The FIDO Alliance is the pioneer of IoT security, moving for the first time beyond setting standards for authentication online alone to tackle the growing cybersecurity problem. Eliseo Delgado believes they will soon be able to make a new international standard protocol that will protect users everywhere.
“From there, it won’t matter if we have two connected devices each or twenty,” says Eliseo Delgado. “So long as we have the internet speeds to handle all the traffic, our devices will be able to communicate securely thanks to the groundwork FIDO is laying down.”
