Fourth industrial revolution: Internet users from all over the world ... you are already united!

Every evolutionary leap in human society is characterized by a discriminating factor that uniquely identifies it from the previous one. The figure below summarizes the successive revolutions in the last 200 years, such as the introduction of the steam engine, mass production, power electronics and microelectronics. Currently we live a historical period defined as Fourth Revolution o Industry 4.0 whose origin can be traced back to choices made by Germany.

Industry 4.0 is a set of tools and technologies dedicated and developed for the industrial sector and identified by the following terms: CyberSecurity, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Augmented Reality, Robotics, 3D Print, Radio Frequency Identification, IoT.

These technologies are significantly revolutionizing the way we live, share information and make decisions.

The founding element of these growing areas is the digital technology, developed during the third Industrial Revolution, which allows to transmit, transform, store and access, in a relatively short time, to theinformation anywhere in space.

these instruments offer a storage and processing capacity that grows from minute to minute. It is estimated that at present the library of Alexandria contains an amount of information equal to an infinitesimal fraction compared to that available on the Web. These estimates are expected to grow in the next decade thanks to IoT Technology, which as soon as marketed the 5G defined as an enabling factor , will lead to the automation of a series of processes linked to productive activities and not.

But what is the IoT and how will it change our lives?

IoT (Internet of Things) is a relatively recent term referring to the extension of the Internet to the world of objects and places. Through the sensors, the objects are able to interact with each other and with physical reality. A specific network interface and software loaded into the IoT device will allow data to be accessed remotely and to offer services via the network connection. Eg:

• a refrigerator capable of survey the food stored in it and place an order to the shopkeeper independently in case something is missing.

• a thermostat that allows you to optimize energy consumption by changing the temperature of the environment, adapting to the lifestyle of users.

• an automobile capable of detecting a potential failure of one of its components; carry out the order in autonomy to make the piece available and ready for replacement.

THEevolution of digital transformation it is not limited to the ability of the devices to connect to each other but to the ability to solve problems and trigger a resolution process managed independently by means of direct dialogue with the network, thus using a principle known in automatic as feedback and a communicative process that approaches the human process.

These devices, always connected to the network, used to process sensitive information and able to perform operations and make potentially sensitive decisions, need to be made safe and robust. If poorly designed or badly configured they can pose a serious threat to the privacy and security of users. It is known the case of two computer scientists who published the results of a test conducted on different cars, explaining how it is possible with a notebook and a cell phone to take control of a modern car, remotely and via the internet, without any kind of authorization . Taking advantage of one bugs in security software the two researchers have shown how it is possible to cause the air conditioning of the radio to switch on and the windscreen wipers to be activated. Instead, loading a modified firmware managed to take control of the steering wheel and deactivate the braking system remotely.

The IoT is therefore destined to be a factor capable of revolutionizing our lives, i processes business, manufacturing, health, agriculture, education and society as a whole. It is expected a quantity of devices equal to 25 billion within the 2020. But are we ready to manage this new and further change at the social level? Relatively recent regulations, such as the GDPR (v.articolo) which will come into force in May, how will they influence future security policies following the integration of IoT into daily life and production processes?

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