Page 19 - Cyber Warnings

Untethered Power Sourcing Could Hitch Devices to Additional

Security

Spinning the cyber security story for device owners with a wireless spool.

By Anamika Kumari, Content Writer, Allied Analytics LLP

The invention of USB connect was revolutionary in its own. Ajay V. Bhatt changed the way in
which data was being shared among resources and in the manner electronic devices were
being sourced with power. For a long while during the last decade, users were dazed at the
flexibility of data transfer and device charging which the standardized utility tool offered. As it
turns out, the same interfacing mechanism became the perfect medium for virus intrusion and
corruption of stored data. Considering the kind of sensitive data that the modern mobile devices
have access to, and is stored over a longer period, the idea of USB charging could turn out to
be a complete horror story.

Wireless charging for better security

Tethering for shared internet access was a trend that dwelled over a short duration. Device
manufacturers leveraged wireless fidelity to empower their devices with modular independence.
Change in times, consequential change in technology, and there we land up with the concept of
wireless charging. It was ideated to solve the issues faced by wires and cables so deeply
entangled with human lives. It gained additional wind in its sail from the rise in global ownership
of the electric vehicles and smartphones. The technique for a structured communication of pure
energy could not conceivably go wrong at the security front.

The fascination for wireless charging technology in context to cyber security should not come as
unprecedented. The larger picture holds distributed goodness for each possible industry
verticals that look forward to its ground implementation. This includes high-end corporate
organizations that has made allowance for the bring-your-own-device facility, federal security
agencies that need secure transmission of data over walky-talkies, as well as the logistics
solution provider with a fleet of electric vehicles transporting something of great public or private
value.

The risks versus possible mitigation

In most cases, there is never enough time or source to power up these devices through
traditional socket connect. Communication of location-based data and authorization keys to the
main database of these organizations lay bare naked when these systems are connected to
unauthorized devices across remote locations. As evident, the internet-of-things biome has
brought its own hazards down the line. Risks to cyber security occupies the foremost front in
those regards. Wireless charging comes forward with a solution hidden underneath its cloak.

19 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine January 2017 Edition
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