Things in IoT You Need to Know This Week: August 1 – August 5

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Breaking into the Internet of Things at Black Hat
The organizers of the Black Hat security conferences received 50 proposals related to the Internet of Things—an increase over prior years, according to the Wall Street Journal. 13 were accepted including a presentation by Charlie Miller involving hacking a Jeep. Last year, Miller and Chris Valasek took over control of a Jeep Cherokee, which ultimately led to a recall of the vehicle. Also in Las Vegas, DARPA is backing a three-hour event that has humans competing against AI systems in “a bug-hunting” mission. The winner will get $2 million.

Hackers Could Breach U.S. Voting System: Homeland Security Secretary
The Department of Homeland Security’s Jeh Johnson revealed that he was worry that hackers could break into the computers used to keep tabs on votes in the presidential elections in November.

Wrecked Self-Driving Tesla Was Speeding
May marked the first recorded incident of a crash of a self-driving vehicle when a Tesla Model S in autopilot slammed into a truck in Florida. According to a government investigation, the car was going nine miles over the posted speed limit or 65 mph just before the wreck. The report noted that the radar in the car was unable to detect the truck because of its height and a radar signature that resembled that of an overhead sign.

Nestlé and Samsung Join Forces on Digital Health Platform
Samsung and Nestlé are working together on an IoT platform that will bring together biosensors and nutritional information to help people manage their health. The platform is intended to provide contextual information related to nutrition, lifestyle, and fitness. The platform will be built on Samsung's ARTIK technology. In June, Samsung announced that it was setting aside $1.2 billion to invest in IoT-related research projects.

Mixed Reviews for President’s Cyber Response Directive
Governments across the world seem to be developing clandestine cyber defensive and offensive initiatives or, are at least interested in meddling in U.S. politics—as evidenced by Russia's reported attack on the DNC. In late July, President Obama launched a program designed to thwart cyber attacks. The program has been criticized by some security experts as being overly complicated while others say it is an accurate reflection of cybersecurity best practices, according to Bankinfosecurity.com.

Russia Hit with Cyberattack
After Russia's possible cyberattack against the DNC, the Russian government reveals that it had been hit with its own professional cyber attack. A virus was found on computers of 20 of its government agencies and organizations.

Introducing the Interstate 80 Smart Highway?
The California Department of Transportation—better known as Caltrans—is in the process of transforming Interstate 80 in the Bay Area into a smart highway. The span of the freeway between Berkeley and Oakland is of the most congested stretches of highway in California, and it has the distinction of being dangerous—averaging 25 wrecks per week. The 80 Smart Corridor Project will take advantage of sensors, a communication network, and signs displaying messages to drivers. The San Francisco Chronicle asks whether it will be a traffic fix or a boondoggle.

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