CHRIS D AND KEEGAN MERCK

Against Internet Of Things and Personal Privacy At Risk

The Internet Of Things is a system originally planned to make life easier for the user by
connecting all of their devices. This may instead become a way for criminals to gain access to all
of your information and personal belongings.

We negate that on Balance, the benefits of the Internet of Things outweigh the harms of
decreased personal privacy.

We would like to define the following terms for clarification: Internet Of Things (IoT), and
decreased personal privacy. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the connection of multiple
computers or devices within an internet infrastructure. We define decreased personal privacy as
all of your information is at risk of being taken, stolen and used very easily.

1. Main Argument One: Household Security Is Currently Too Unstable

a. (Sub point A) Point: All of your devices are connected and respond to each
other within the internet of things.
i. Evidence: A group of researchers from Microsoft and the University of
Michigan were able to hack into multiple smart home devices and stated
that hackers can use these vulnerabilities to seize control of devices such
as smart locks and smoke detectors.
ii. Explanation (its the So What): With these tests being proven true,
that means that hackers are able to easily break into homes with no
worries of alarms going off or the police being called. This security
measure only aids the criminals that it was supposed to keep out in the
first place.
b. (Sub point B) Point: Saved Information Is At Risk
i. Evidence: Two executives at BlackBerry were able to get passed their
password protected Wi-Fi into their offices network connected tea kettle.
They were able to get from the tea kettle into valuable information that
was all connected on their network.
ii. Explanation (its the So What): With this test being done, it proves
suspicion that even with password protected Wi-Fi you are never truly
protected when it comes to the Internet of Things. Someone could just as
easily gain access to a Coffee maker, connect to your network, and get all
of your personal information such as usernames, passwords, files and
documents, etc
2. Main Argument Two: Technology Is Not Advanced Enough For Both Major
Companies and Everyday People
a. (Sub point A) Point: Everyday Devices Turn Against Us
i. Evidence: In 2016 a researcher by the name Nitesh Dhanjani turned baby
monitors into eavesdropping devices. Thousands of security cameras were
 hacked to create a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) against
Dyn, a provider of critical DNS services to Twitter, Spotify, Amazon,
Reddit, Yelp, Netflix, and The New York Times.
ii. Explanation: After an attack of these proportions they were still unable to
find the hackers responsible. The ability to deny common people their
services that they use on a daily bases without consequence is
unacceptable. Imagine queuing up your favorite playlist, opening up
Netflix to watch your favorite show, or logging on to Twitter to read up on
President Trumps glorious compositions, only to be denied because a
group of people decided that they wanted to have a little fun or make a
name for themselves.
b. (Sub point B) Point: Simple Life Support Is At Risk
i. Evidence: In 2015 a group of students from the University of South
Alabama were able to successfully hack and stop a pacemaker as well as
an insulin pump.
ii. Explanation: This poses a major threat to health and security for all
people, those who both use internet on a daily bases and those who simply
rely on technology to help keep them alive. Our technology isnt advanced
enough to deal with these situations for normal everyday people without
proper assistance.
3. Main Argument Three: Threat to Society
a. (Sub point A) Point: The Advanced Technology is a Risk to basic living
i. Evidence: Late last year, a group of hackers took down a power grid in a
region of western Ukraine to cause the first blackout from a cyber attack.
And this is likely just the beginning, as these hackers are looking for more
ways to strike critical infrastructure, such as power grids, hydroelectric
dams, chemical plants, and more.
ii. Explanation: When hackers were able to hack into the power grid in the
region of western Ukraine, what is to stop them from hacking into other
areas or countries power. Yes, other regions may have better security
around their systems, but when there is a will there is a way. Think of all
the damage that this could cause, Entire cities could be shut completely off
of power. This would harm the economy vastly and could cause more
crime. When companies lose power their security systems go down which
leads to vulnerability in their protection of their business.
b. (Sub point B) Point: Many holes in the system
i. Evidence: According to Business Insider The Internet of Things is
connecting more devices every day, and we're headed for a world that will
have 24 billion IoT devices by 2020. The sheer amount of data that IoT
devices can generate is staggering. A Federal Trade Commission report
entitled "Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World"
found that fewer than 10,000 households can generate 150 million discrete
data points every day. This creates more entry points for hackers and
leaves sensitive information vulnerable.
ii. Explanation: When there are so many holes of access for hackers to get
into the system it makes your whole system very vulnerable. When we
 connect so many devices to each other there creates many open holes for
hackers to go into and it could cause major data leakage. This could lead
to so many data leaks like credit card information, social security
numbers, and health records. In conclusion, we believe that the privacy
invasion of The Internet of Things outways the small benefits.

John Mcafee said he could get inside the Pentagons database in less than a month. He stated,
Find the weakest link. Youre in and out, and you have everything.

Works Cited
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