By 2020, a person will have around 27 things connected to the internet on average. According to IDC, the world will have an incredible 212 billion devices using the internet. Mr. McAfee says that this heightens the stakes relating to computer security to a whole new level.
Mr. McAfee told the Australian that hackers are happily crossing their fingers because they will have a field day in the near future. At the same time, litigation lawyers are looking forward to such a time because they know theirs will be the millions of dollars to rake in.
Having been sued for over 200 times, Mr. McAfee quips how he is ‘more targeted than anybody else’. He is currently running for presidency under his ‘Cyber Party’ umbrella and often describes himself as an unconventional millionaire.
After the recent cyber attack of the smart safe by Brinks, McAfee said that this served as a clear indicator of the many perils that the world stands to deal with once it passes computer security matters over to companies which have little experience and expertise in the field.
McAfee added that it is impossible to physically break the safes made by Bricks – leading manufacturer bank vaults and private safe in America. Yet these iron hard safes could not hold to the pressure of a couple of tech savvy teenagers.
Hackers have also demonstrated that they can hack into automobile systems. Just recently, Fiat Chrysler had to recall over 1.4 million cars in US alone. Remotely, hackers had successfully been able to control the car’s systems while the cars were in operation. It’s only a few months ago when Chris Robert, a McAfee’s friend was able to successfully access the on-board entertainment systems of a United Airlines plane. Both McAfee and Chris had relentlessly tried to contact Boeing on this security imperfection. Chris is now politically involved with Mr. McAfee as his chief technology adviser.
There are countless security risks that the world is walking into. There will be smart vacuum cleaners, smart handguns, smart toasters and even smart compressors coming from hardware stores. Cyber criminals are bound to have a field day when all this sophisticated technology is left to be handled by people who are not properly qualified. Surely hackers will have the last laugh!
Mr. McAfee adds that many companies continue to make inexcusable mistake of going for off-the-shelf parts and software since they don’t have the time to make their own. This makes their devices prone to attacks from hackers. To have a highly effective system, a company will need to allocate between 5 to ten years. It will take just a few months to have an imperfect customized off-the-shelf system.
