On Tuesday, March 25, Vice President of Security Research Michael Sutton at Zscaler participated in a Washington Post Live Forum panel discussing privacy and security. He joined Commissioner U.S. Federal Trade Commission Maureen Ohlhausen; Executive Director and Co-chair, Future of Privacy Forum Jules Polonetsky and Washington Post Live Editor Mary Jordan moderated the discussion centered on security and privacy in “The Internet of Things,” an idea continuing to experience upward momentum. The panel took place from 10:30-11:00 a.m. ET at the Washington Post Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Internet of Things describes the present and future where physical objects are connected to the 
Internet and connected to other devices. More of these devices – including cell phones, public transportation vehicles, wearable technology, etc. – are connected to the internet, and that number is rising exponentially. Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group predicts that by 2020, 50 billion things will be connected to the internet, nearly seven times the current population of the world. One question raised was the potential adverse impact in the job market. Chief Economic Strategist at Progressive Policy Institute Michael Mandel dispelled that notion in his opening remarks, encouraging viewers to “think of it as a job creator, not a job destroyer.”
With that in mind, each panelist outlined numerous potential benefits to the quality of life while tempering expectations and acknowledging security and privacy concerns. The benefits, highlighted by discussions of wearable technology, self-driving cars and remote monitoring systems, are immense and imminent. But in addition to the benefits, the Internet of Things raises questions about privacy and security. The panel went into detail about current regulations surrounding 
this, with each citing personal examples of failures in security they’ve experienced. “We will never be able to keep up with the technology,” Sutton said in regards to new and emerging connected hardware devices. He suggested that in order to better understand how to secure everything connected to the internet, the hardware industry needs to look at the software industry as a point of reference.
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