Spitballing IoT Security

Thu Oct 27 21:13:31 UTC 2016

On Thu, 27 Oct 2016, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:

> My iPhone 3GS still works just fine,

I still have a "functional" iPhone 3G (no S).  I don't think AT&T will 
activate service on it at this point, and it's been relegated to iPod 
service when I do yard work.

> You can't *force* people to throw away or trade-in their old tech products,
> especially when, from the user's point of view, there doesn't -seem- to be
> anything wrong with them... like all of those pre- Sept. 2015 Internet video
> cameras.

Sure you can.  Just make the tech dependent on "the cloud" and when the 
device is too old, force retirement by no longer supporting it.  That 
doesn't force it off the network (unless the final command from the cloud 
is "shut off [your network interface]?"), but it makes the user much more 
likely to toss it and replace it with something newer if they still want 
such a device.

This is one of my bigger concerns every time I buy something that's "cloud 
controlled".  Not so much that the manufacturer will force it's 
retirement, but "what happens if they go belly up, or just kill the 
division that supports my device?"  A cloud controlled networked device, 
with no cloud, is not terribly useful.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jon Lewis, MCP :)           |  I route
                              |  therefore you are
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