The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to systems that involve computation, sensing, communication, and actuation—technology that is now utilized in almost every aspect of personal life, government, and industry. The ubiquitous nature of IoT in the modern world logically leads to questions of trustworthiness and the potential of new technology to be leveraged for malicious purposes. These concerns are not necessarily matters of direct risk assessment, but rather a high-level consideration of whether an IoT product or service can provide desired operations at an acceptable level of quality.
To consider these questions, NIST is releasing Draft NIST Internal Report (NISTIR) 8222, Internet of Things (IoT) Trust Concerns, which identifies seventeen technical trust-related issues that may negatively impact the adoption of IoT products and services. This set was derived from the six trustworthiness elements in NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-183. The document offers recommendations for addressing these concerns, suggests additional areas of research with regard to the subject of “IoT trust,” and provides readers with a broad understanding of the topic.