Given the explosion of connected devices, also known as the Internet-of-things, it’s natural that people would want to know just how many such devices are out there.
But how do you go about figuring out just how many of these devices—like thermometers or light bulbs hooked to the Internet—are being used in a given city? The answer is apparently to enlist the services of a drone that can fly above the city proper and gather tons of data pertaining to the connected gadgets and appliances.
A team of researchers at security company Praetorian wanted to discover how many IOT-friendly devices were being used in Austin, TX, and found that the best way to do so would be to outfit a drone with the company’s custom built connected-device tracking appliance and have it fly over the city, Praetorian vice president of marketing Paul Jauregui told Fortune.
We ♥ the @adafruit gear strapped to our #ZigBee sniffing, #IoT hunting drone. Full how-to build guide coming soon! pic.twitter.com/AlENsqMyE2
— Praetorian (@praetorianlabs) July 29, 2015
As part of its Internet of Things Map Project, Praetorian released an interactive map showing the number of connected devices in Austin along with the names of device manufacturers and whether those gadgets were used in commercial, residential, or industrial zones.
It found that nearly 1,600 connected devices are being used in Austin, the majority in residential areas. From the map, you can see that that there are 453 connected Sony devices and 110 Philips Lighting connected products in Austin, making those companies the biggest suppliers of connected devices in the area.
Praetorian partnered with a local drone startup in Austin for the project, but Jauregui wouldn’t disclose the name because the company is currently in stealth mode.
#ZigBee sniffing #drone discovered 726 unique #IoT devices over 18min flight. Fingerprinted 465 manufacturer names. pic.twitter.com/z7ijoiSTJU
— Praetorian (@praetorianlabs) July 29, 2015
The ultimate goal of the project is to see how IOT devices are being deployed in the open as well as what the device networks look like, explained Jauregui.
“It’s more about exploration at this point and understanding the landscape of this field,” said Jauregui. Eventually, the researchers plan to do a statistical analysis of the data and will try to determine security vulnerabilities based on the data.
While the rise of connected devices means that more data is now available to analyze by businesses that may be interested in improving their bottom line, it also means that there are a lot of security vulnerabilities that these devices are introducing to the public.
Autonomous #ZigBee sniffing drone starting a #IoT hunting run. pic.twitter.com/ND9kEEhX1V
— Praetorian (@praetorianlabs) July 28, 2015
As security researcher Cesar Cerrudo explained during the 2015 RSA Conference, “It’s only matter of time until attacks on city services and infrastructure become common” as more connected devices are being used. Essentially, hackers could break into one connected device, like an air conditioner, and from there access other networks and appliances that the device may be sending data to.
“If there is a breach or incident, no one is pointing their fingers at the light bulb,” said Jauregui referring to how a bad actor could potentially cause a security breach by hacking into a connected light bulb that has poor security protocols in place.
Praetorian is only releasing a handful of the data to the public. Among some of the findings Praetorian will keep private for the time being was how some devices in residential zones communicate with other devices used by utility services.
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