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Instead, and inspired by the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the Dassault Systèmes article in this issue, I thought it would be interesting to extrapolate a bit about its benefits and shortcomings.

The principal benefit of IoT, as the article suggests, is the extension of the wealth of information that we are able to glean from a building using Smart Control Systems - taking the dream of Building Information Modelling to more extreme levels - to where they 'answer back', monitoring and controlling building performance.

The gist of it is that everything is connected via the Internet and can, therefore, be controlled externally. You could be turning up your central heating while sitting in a branch of Costa, or noting how the control systems with banks of sensors around the building have done the job for you.

It's a quiet invasion of intelligent devices. Just this morning, I received a press release about SmartSave, an electric self-learning radiator that learns your habits and switches itself on half an hour before you come home. And you can already buy fridges and freezers that come with their own Internet connected devices to monitor and report on the quantity and state of food within.

But then I remembered some other stories that have emerged over the last couple of months. Several marques of cars have had their onboard computer systems hacked, meaning that drivers could potentially find themselves driving along the road only to have control of the vehicle quite literally taken out of their hands.

The possibilities that this raises are quite troubling. Imagine your bank account being raided via your fridge! You're a busy person, so, when you are getting low on milk or butter, you have set up your system to reorder said items from a home delivery service as required - and to pay the supermarket directly when you order. Your fridge, therefore, has an Internet connection to your bank and access to your basic account details.

Of course, you have the best security systems installed on your computer, and use these to set up and monitor every Internet-enabled device in the building. But if your car has an Internet connection then it's also part of the World Wide Web, and so has links to your name, as the owner, your address and other sensitive information.

Crooks are getting cleverer. I had a long conversation with a friend recently who nearly got scammed after an 'outside source' took control of his computer. He is a very careful person, but was impressed with the professionalism of the 'company' that contacted him. Alarm bells were only raised by a tiny illogical lapse in their spiel. Within minutes, they had money transfer requests being presented at his bank - stopped only by the vigilant bank fraud squad alerted by the amount.

I hope developers involved in the Internet of Things have security as a prime directive. Imagine how you would feel, if you were fleeced by your toaster?