Threats to Journalists from the Consumer Internet of Things

Threats associated with the consumer Internet of Things (IoT) may particu-larly inhibit the work and wellbeing of journalists, especially because of the danger of technological surveillance and the imperative to protect con-fidential sources. These issues may have knock-on effects on societal sta-bility and democratic processes if press freedom is eroded. Still, journalists remain unaware of potential IoT threats, and so are unable to incorporate them into risk assessments or to advise their sources. This shows a clear gap in the literature, requiring immediate attention. This article therefore identi-fies and organises distinctive and novel threats to journalism from the con-sumer IoT. The article presents a novel conceptualisation of threats to the press in six categories: regulatory gaps, legal threats, profiling threats, track-ing threats, data and device modification threats, and networked devices threats. Each of the threats in these categories includes a description and hypothetical consequences that include real-life ways in which IoT devices can be used to inhibit journalistic work, building on interdisciplinary liter-ature analysis and expert interviews. In so doing, this article synthesises technical information about IoT device capabilities with human security and privacy requirements tailored to a specific at-risk population: journal-ists. It is therefore important for cyber science scholarship to address the contemporary and emerging risks associated with IoT devices to vulnerable groups such as journalists. This exploratory conceptualisation enables the evidence-based conceptual evolution of understandings of cyber security risks to journalists.