IoT Device Owners: 3 Must-Do’s to Protect Your Privacy

Almost every new device or appliance on the market today connects to the internet.  While these devices can make our lives much easier, they also collect huge amounts of private, sometimes-sensitive data and expose us to cyber attacks.  As a consumer of such devices and a digital marketing student at Northwestern University’s Medill IMC program, I have found two articles that will inform you how to protect your household in the IoT age.

In an article from McAfee titled 5 Tips to Protect Your IoT Devices, consumer security expert Gary Davis outlines five of the most important steps tech consumers should take to ensure their safety.  Davis goes into detail about the definition of IoT devices, explaining what differentiates them from normal devices – the fact that their main purpose is to perform offline tasks.  He then explains some of the history behind IoT security breaches, namely the Mirai attack of 2016.  With the context of cyber attacks being on the rise, Davis finally delves into his list of tips.

In a very similar article on the Hubspot blog, titled IoT Security: Why Experts Are Scared -- And What You Can Do to Protect Yourself, staff writer Clifford Chi provides his perspective on the current state of security in IoT.  Chi does a great job of providing real-life examples of how we use IoT everyday, but he also utilizes some eye-catching statistics.  For example, IoT has made it possible for our refrigerators to order milk for us, but the criminal IoT compromises have also increased by 600% this year.  Chi then looks to the future to predict some future risks and suggest ways in which companies could improve their security.  This article, just like the previous one, ends with a list of recommended action items for IoT users.

After reading these articles and with my experience from Northwestern, I have decided on the three most important takeaways for IoT device owners.

·      Know Vendors’ Motivations - When you buy a device, consider who is making the product and what they intend to gain from you using it.  Some companies will overlook your personal security if it means they can profit off of your data.

·      Diversify Your Passwords - It’s the oldest tip in the book, but having matching usernames and passwords on all IoT devices can leave you susceptible.

·      Separate Your Networks - It is safest to separate your personal, work, and device networks.

As you're using your IoT devices, think about these tips to ensure no personal data is leaked.

Oliver Hodgetts is a senior at Northwestern University studying economics, marketing, and history.  He enjoys following trends in technology and plans to work as a consultant in Chicago after graduation.

You can connect with Oliver on Twitter or LinkedIn.

CMOs: 3 Changes You Should Know about Reduced Attention Span

As a marketer, you are always trying to cut through the daily clutter as your high value markets become less patient and more forgetful. Being a graduate student in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern, I have found two powerful articles around reduced human attention span and Google’s six-second solution. 

In a 2015 study from Microsoft, people on average lose their concentration after 8 seconds, even shorter than the goldfish. Researchers also found that heavy media users are easily distracted when multiple stimulus are presented. This is due to the emerging lifestyle of multitasking, especially among the younger generations. The good news is, consumers can also better memorize your messages during high attention bursts. With that being said, now your ads have to be more outrageous to get your brand memorized. 

Source: mobileday

To stay ahead of the trend, Google is promoting their new six-second ads. In the past three years, Google find it harder to engage their audience with 15, 30 and 60 second commercials on YouTube, so they turned to the six-second spot; it is too short to be annoying but long enough to trigger interest. Google also kicked off a competition between major ad agencies at Sundance 2017 to explore impactful story-telling within 6 seconds. They certainly have high hopes for this new format. Here is one of the entries:

Based on my understanding of the two articles, and relevant studies I have done in the IMC program, here is three action items you should put down now:

• Focus on video - Quality of your video ads are critical to your brand’s future success.

• Creativity is king - Your message should tell a story, rather than the repetition of logos.

• Make Them short - Stay creative on the 15-second spots and be prepared for the 6-second future. 

Remind yourself of these three action items every time you develop a new video ad.    

Jess Yang is a master of science candidate in Integrated Marketing Communications at Medill, Northwestern. She is graduating in December, 2017. Jess has four years of experience in social media marketing, and her major client @ShibaSommelier now has almost 20 thousand twitter followers.

find her on LinkedIn and Twitter @RocK_YanG.