What is behind the curtain of our collective future? No one knows precisely what is in store for us in the future. However, be assured, the Research and Development groups of large tech companies and innovative startups are busy dreaming and drawing up plans for a future that for sure will amaze.
Flying Cars
We have read stories about such transportation and dream about escaping the gridlock of congested roads. Flying cars, however, may be closer than you think.
Hyundai Motors Europe chief executive said that the flying car concept is 'part of our future'. Consulting company Morgan Stanley predicted that the flying car sector could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as it is called in some circles, is a forward-looking technology that combines 5G wireless technology and autonomous vehicle technology with aeronautics offering commercial passenger services in low-altitude airspace.
A Chinese company, HT Aero, is touting a flying car that can also travel on roads and expects to begin roll out in 2024. Another company, Klein Vision has successfully tested its AirCar which is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. It only takes 15 seconds to transform from car to aircraft. Still another entry into this space is the Aeromobil. Their flying car is expected to be available for sale in 2023.
As wild as this technology sounds, there are many supporters in both aeronautics and the automobile industries. Of course, there are many challenges still to overcome such as regulation, safety (ground and air), and traffic control. As with all new technologies, flying cars will be very expensive early on but hopefully, attain broader availability in the not too distant future.
What is GRE?
A chain is said to be only as strong as its weakest link. When developing a cybersecurity profile for your network, this language is important to consider. It is of little benefit having your critical links fully protected and other less-used links open a little more vulnerable.
Many network managers are faced with budget constraints that require them to prioritize security options. This prioritization can encompass where to deploy expensive security tools and even what tools to purchase. Adding complexity to this prioritization scheme is that hackers and cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated requiring more specialized tools to identify and block attacks.
Network Critical, a global innovator in network visibility, monitoring and security has come up with a brilliant idea to save companies CAPX without compromising their cyber security profile. Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a tunneling protocol that can encapsulate a wide variety of network layer protocols inside point-to-point or point-to-multipoint links over an Internet Protocol network.
Why is this important to network cyber security? Many businesses have multiple physical locations in their network such as branch offices connecting to a headquarters location. In a typical cyber security architecture, every link at every branch office would require all the same specialized security tools as required at headquarters. Using the GRE feature on the Network Critical SmartNA-XL hybrid TAP, only the HQ location requires expensive security tools. The branch offices will require a SmartNA-XL TAP with GRE connected to the remote link.
This design saves companies from purchasing expensive security equipment on all remote links at all branch offices without compromising the security profile of the network. Using GRE remote monitoring can save thousands to tens of thousands of dollars (or euros or pounds or yen or yuan) depending on the size and number of branch locations in the company.
Unlike flying cars, however, this futuristic technology is available now. You can get more information and other cyber security design ideas at Network Critical by going to www.networkcritical.com/inviktus.
IoT to IoS
The Internet of Things (Internet of Things) is well established today with billions of smart devices connected to the internet worldwide. These devices include medical monitoring, smartwatches that track the number of steps you take in a day, glasses with embedded GPS, and earbuds that deliver an enormous musical library of every conceivable genre. More wearable devices are being developed and released every day. Because of IoT, many workers are no longer bound by a physical office. IoT has changed our lives in many ways. So, what is next?
Internet of Senses is a movement where we use internet-enabled devices to simulate all of our senses. How would you like to have a device that makes a glass of water taste like a chocolate milkshake? What would you think if you could use an internet-connected device that could provide the taste of a lollipop without ingesting the sugar or calories?
According to Ericsson Research, these advancements should start to become available by 2030. Research is being done now on 6G technology that advances current 5G speeds of 20Gbps up to 1Tbps enabling hyper-connectivity, imperceptible delay, and advanced automation.
The concept of IoS encompasses mind, smell, taste, sight, touch, sound control. Shoppers will be able to virtually taste a meal before ordering. Keyboards and mice will be replaced by thought interfaces. Virtual reality will merge with real reality. These advances, however, pose some interesting questions. How will we know what is real? If our thoughts can control our devices, can a hacked device control our minds? These questions bring new urgency to cyber security.
As we enter into the brave new world of sensory technology in the next decade, we must be sure to advance our cyber security technology at the same pace as our network technology. Network Critical is at the forefront of new and innovative network security technologies. Be sure to check in with their cyber security experts for protection ideas now and into the future. Go to www.networkcritical.com/contac-us.
