{"id":722,"date":"2017-05-15T11:37:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T15:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=722"},"modified":"2017-05-15T11:37:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T15:37:35","slug":"iot-lighting-no-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=722","title":{"rendered":"IoT Lighting? No Thanks."},"content":{"rendered":"

The current global cyber-attack<\/a>, combined with last year\u2019s \u201cdenial of service attack<\/a> has me thinking about the lighting industry and IoT.<\/p>\n

It was ironic that last year\u2019s attack happened just days before the IES annual conference, at which IoT lighting was touted as the next big thing that everyone had to adopt or be left behind. You may recall that one aspect of that attack was that hackers recruited IoT devices like thermostats and smoke detectors. Many designers may think, \u201cWell, sure, homeowners don\u2019t have good security, but that wouldn\u2019t happen to one of my corporate clients.\u201d The current attack shows the flaw in that thinking. New tools have allowed hackers access to supposedly secure networks, and not all networks that should be secure (such as Britain\u2019s NHS<\/a>) actually are.<\/p>\n

The question, then, is, \u201cWhy should my lighting system use IoT?\u201d I\u2019ve asked several friends in lighting design firms large and small and the answers I\u2019ve received are revealing. Almost no one has a client who is asking for this. (I\u2019ve had exactly one client who wanted the lighting system connected to the corporate LAN.) Do they want lighting systems connected to their BMS? If the client is knowledgeable and the building is large, yes, although today\u2019s lighting systems have so many programming options we don\u2019t need the BMS to control the lighting system. Do they want lighting systems to use Wi-Fi so that users can adjust the lights from phones and pads? Not very often. \u201cWhy would I want to give that many people authorization to change the lighting?\u201d is the question asked, and rightly so. Do they want light fixtures with IP addresses and built-in Wi-Fi, Li-Fi, daylight sensors, occupancy sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and software that tracks shoppers or monitors space usage? \u201cHow much will that cost?\u201d is the usual first question, followed by a strong \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we designers don\u2019t see an artistic or operational advantage to these systems, and if our clients don\u2019t see an advantage and aren\u2019t asking for these systems, why all the noise about them? The answer, of course, isn\u2019t better lighting design or increased energy efficiency, it\u2019s money. Companies like Cisco see expanded profits from embedding Cisco sensors in every light fixture in a building, connecting all of those fixtures to Cisco POE switches and perhaps controlling the fixtures and sensors with Cisco software. Fixture manufacturers, always looking for a way to differentiate their products, jump on board. Marketing departments create hype, magazines and web sites need material, and voila! the next \u201cmust have\u201d lighting system feature.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s providing network security? The corporate IT department, I guess. Are the lighting systems vulnerable to hacking? The current and recent attacks tell us the answer is, \u201cYes.\u201d Are manufacturers of IoT devices investing in security? Not really. They see it as the responsibility of someone upstream. Would anyone want a lighting system that is vulnerable to being turned off in an emergency, or reprogrammed by someone just to see if they can do it? No.<\/p>\n

Some of the lighting systems I am designing are quite complex involving hundreds of fixtures with hundreds of addresses, multiple control protocols, and multiple points of control including touchscreens and Wi-Fi devices. One thing no one has to worry about, though, is high-jacking or corruption of the system. Each system stands alone. Software updates, if they are ever needed, are downloaded and installed via a USB key. Anyone wanting access to the system has to be within Wi-Fi range and has to hack the network. What would they get? Access to a single lighting system. There\u2019s almost no reward and therefore there\u2019s almost no incentive. Call me a Luddite if you like, but for now I\u2019m going to stick to designing secure, flexible systems that provide my clients with only the features that they want at a price they are willing to pay. I\u2019m sure that the pressure to \u201cinnovate\u201d will eventually lead me to using these IoT systems. But for security\u2019s sake I\u2019m going to resist for as long as I can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current global cyber-attack, combined with last year\u2019s \u201cdenial of service attack has me thinking about the lighting industry and IoT. It was ironic that last year\u2019s attack happened just days before the IES annual conference, at which IoT lighting was touted as the next big thing that everyone had to adopt or be left … Continue reading IoT Lighting? No Thanks.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,18,19,10],"tags":[34,57,58,45,49],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-controls","category-design","category-lighting-profession","category-luminaires","tag-design-2","tag-fixture-costs","tag-lighting-economics","tag-new-technology","tag-specifications"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gZSw-bE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1555,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=1555","url_meta":{"origin":722,"position":0},"title":"TM-30 Is Not Too Hard To Learn!","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"March 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, a well-known lighting designer gave a presentation at a well-known lighting conference. During the Q&A he was asked his opinion of TM-30 and replied that it was too hard so he just specified CRI>90. At the risk of sounding like a jerk I have to say that maybe it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":778,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=778","url_meta":{"origin":722,"position":1},"title":"Who’s Afraid of TM-30?","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the Co-Chair of the IES Color Committee, I have seen too many statements that full-scale adoption of TM-30 is too difficult and will create confusion in the market.\u00a0 Often, these assertions come from major manufacturers who want to control market disruption, not be disrupted.\u00a0 In my professional lifetime there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":586,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=586","url_meta":{"origin":722,"position":2},"title":"Who Needs A Lighting Designer? 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