Defense systems and IoT: Security issues in an era of distributed command and control

Just as the Internet of Things (IoT) stands to revolutionize the way we sense, analyze, and apply data in civilian life, defense systems are also working to enhance future mission capabilities with IoT logic and devices. Recently, Gen. James Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated: "The ability to move from number of men per machine to the number of machines per man is the ultimate objective here in a command and control construct." In defense systems, IoT stands to dramatically affect cost, data, and response time advantages through distributed sensing, analysis, and action. This summarizes a key need of the defense community as it relates to IoT: the creation of an organizational construct that allows effective man-machine partnering and action that conforms to the command and culture of the US military (see Figure 1).