Robert Vamosi wrote When Gadgets Betray Us: The Dark Side of Our Infatuation With New Technologies in 2013. Today in the age of COVID-19 this book remains very relevant. Upon his book release, Robert spoke at Microsoft Research.
When Gadgets Betray Us is really about the internet of things (IoT) and the explosion of cheap gadgets.
This is a two fold problem: the impulse of human behavior to jump right into a new, innovative, ‘shiny’ devices. We more often skip reading the manual. Who reads manuals anyway these days?
However the ability for a nation state to remotely hack building controls and manipulate industrial machines seemed like stuff from a Hollywood movie, even back in 2013.
Clearly Vamosi could not have considered the impact of Stuxnet, the attack by Israel and the US NSA to destroy centrifuges in an underground facility in Iran. My review Countdown to Zero Day will surprise many readers.
This is a good starting point for many readers. Generally When Gadgets Betray Us reveals how our devices (phones, cars, smart watches, home thermostats and even baby monitors leaked location data. Worse, baby monitors permitted hackers to hijack the video feeds meant for remote grandparents, family and friends.
Robert also hints the information security community was identifying hacks to simple medical devices. We then learned in 2017 was the year ransomware attacks. Unpatched medical devices across the globe were forcing hospitals to react quickly to understand how legacy Windows OS were vulnerable to attack.
A passage in the book that caught a lot of attention focused on soccer star David Beckham. Two of his special armor-plated BMW X5s, stolen by criminals, simply with a laptop and hacked key fob. One X5 moving from Madrid to Macedonia very quickly.
The age of covid-19 is upon us now. And Robert hits the nail on the head realizing there are benefits to tracking devices that can help solve health problems. Wonderful idea that we need today.
Robert’s book website appears offline. This hopefully could be reconsidered if Robert were to consider a second release.