We are living in an era where most of the devices we interact with daily connect us to the world wide web. This has led many in the developed world to lives of convenience and ease. However, this very feature of devices being connected all the time, opens digital natives up to a whole plethora of cyber attacks.
According to Dave Evans of Cisco, we are currently in an Internet of Things (IoT) age. We have phones, computers, cars and even toothbrushes that can connect and communicate through a network: the Internet. Still, 99 percent of physical, man-made objects, are not yet fully connected.
The phenomenon called the Internet of Everything (IoE) will drastically change the world and connect absolutely every physical thing imaginable to the Internet. Optimistic futurists believe that this will make the whole world better, from communications, science, education, economy and business.
Since the new age is still in its infancy, the very devices that go online for our convenience become vulnerable to cyber attacks, organized crime, and many other security breaches that are not yet being acknowledged or dealt with.
According to a report on Internet organized crime published by the Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the first "online murder" may very well happen before the end of 2014.
Hackers can potentially exploit weaknesses in the connectivity of devices that can communicate with the Internet due to security flaws that manufacturers, programmers and international and local police have not yet addressed.
According to Cecilia Malmstrom, Europol Commissioner of Home Affairs, investigations into cyber crimes, as well as credit card faud and child abuse cases, should be a transnational concern and should not be blocked by international borders.
"These days, almost anyone can become a cyber criminal. This puts an ever increasing pressure on law enforcement authorities to keep up. We need to use our new knowledge of how organised crime operates online to launch more transnational operations," she said.
For example, a hacker working outside of the EU, where there are not many laws against cyber criminals, may be able to gain access to the wireless settings of a pacemaker and cause heart failure in the victim.
The scenario is not just the plot of an action spy movie but a very real threat that former vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, felt was plausible. He had the wireless communications feature of his pacemaker and wireless defibrillator disabled.
In fact, before his death, prolific hacker Barnaby Jack had planned on demonstrating exactly how to exploit that very security flaw in pacemakers and other devices.
Aside from direct sabotage of a device to become lethal, indirect murders can also happen via Internet security breaches of devices, from blackmail and extortion to suicide.
The EC3 report proposes increased collaboration between international lawmakers and IT, tactical and security experts, in order to crack down on these wide open flaws before it's too late.
