Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of physical devices — vehicles, appliances, industrial machinery, sensors, wearables — embedded with electronics, software, and connectivity to exchange data. There are approximately 15 billion connected IoT devices globally (2024), projected to reach 30 billion by 2030. The industrial IoT (IIoT) enables predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, and process optimization at massive scale. Smart home devices (Amazon Echo, Google Nest, Apple HomeKit) have become the most visible consumer IoT application — controlling lights, thermostats, security cameras, and appliances by voice or phone. City-scale IoT (smart cities) manages traffic signals, parking, waste collection, and energy distribution in real time. Security vulnerabilities in IoT devices have created massive botnets — the 2016 Mirai botnet (using compromised cameras and DVRs) briefly disrupted major websites including Twitter, Netflix, and Spotify.