Mastering Internet of Things

Claiming ownership of things

One of the major drawbacks of an event-based approach is that it is very difficult to protect devices. The device, or its owner, cannot control who can have access to it. It publishes its identity and anybody with access to the registry can find it. There's no method for the owner of the thing to claim it for itself. And there's no method for the owner to control who can access the thing and what is done with it.

Search-based methods, however, can be adapted to allow for ownership claims. The basic principle is as follows, and is outlined in the following diagram:

Discovery of things using a Thing Registry

1. A thing ...