Not too long ago, the term ‘Internet of Things’ was only a word used in marketing, with no meaning to those who didn’t have an immediate connection to such fields. Today, however, it’s a well-known household term that pretty much everyone is familiar with.
It’s true that most of the time when you hear about it, it’s the news of a new issue, or a newly discovered exploit, or a similar problem connected to it. Still, IoT and devices that it includes have arrived into our lives and despite the dangers, they’re too valuable to us. That’s why we wouldn’t get rid of them as a failed experiment because we’ve already formed a connection to such things.
That’s why many different businesses should pay attention to it, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. The Gartner’s study from 2016 suggests that over 50% of major new businesses, as well as their processes and systems, are going to include some sort of IoT component. This will most likely happen even before 2020.
Many people don’t see that as something bad at all. The tech is advancing, and we’re learning to develop with it. We’re bringing it into our works, our homes, and our everyday lives. We’re using it to make our lives more simple, to have access to information and all different kinds of knowledge. This is the power that our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, and there’s nothing wrong with using it.
True enough, but there are still major issues when it comes to IoT devices. For example, they’re being developed, created, and sold so fast, that their security is basically useless. The best example is the fact that they can be hacked in a matter of seconds if the buyer/user doesn’t change the original, factory-password of the device.
There are many other issues when it comes to the security of IoT devices, but there are also some exaggerations. So, we’ve discovered to see which claims are true, and which are not in this text. Just keep reading, and let us see what’s a fact, and what is fiction.
The IoT attack vectors are higher than ever before?
The fact here is that the IoT attacks are increasing at a much higher rate than anything that was previously seen. This proves a much bigger challenge for many organizations.
All those companies that have anything to do with the IoT market need to integrate their services mindfully, otherwise, they might get misused. Security is something that must never be overlooked, and devices with bad security, or with poor design might destroy their own or their company’s reputation. There’s nothing worse for a company than to lose the trust of its clients.
If the IoT devices are connected to the company’s internal network, then the company’s IT team is responsible for keeping it secure and well organized. Their security practices need to be at their best, or the failure of the device is only a matter of time.
When it comes to ensuring the IoT devices, one of the most invaluable allies is the network segmentation. If left unguarded, things like alarm systems, Nests, and routers might end up causing serious problems for devices like smartphones, laptops, printers, and alike.
It might also be a good idea to create a rule that would make your employees ask for permission before using unauthorized IoT devices and connecting them to the company’s network.
Are IoT devices used for cyberstalking and spying on employees?
Myths like these are often spread around by conspiracy theorists and other paranoid individuals. The fact that the IoT is developing extremely fast is true, but when we look at it’s potential, we can clearly see that IoT is still in its earliest stages. Yes, hacking your devices in order to break into your corporate office and steal your company’s secrets is possible, in theory, however, it’s not very likely.
The much bigger issue could be a mass surveillance, but even that is still in the future. The biggest issue that the IoT users are currently facing is individual hacks that might serve as a part of a larger botnet, or for locking the devices up and holding them for ransom.
Still, there are ways to deal with this kind of problems. The most important part is to acknowledge them and to see how they might get fixed. Botnet threats, for example, are a real issue, and not just hypothetical. Not that long ago, for example, one of the largest and strongest botnets called Mirai has brought the entire internet to a standstill. Millions of people have lost their connection thanks to these attacks.
This was all possible because of the 120,000 or more unprotected IoT devices that the hackers took control of in order to launch their attacks. And incidents like that are only expected to increase both in number and power, as the growth of IoT continues. Hijacking devices in order to create attacks is a way for hackers to get money, and they won’t stop doing it. Especially when the affected parties would pretty much pay right away in order to ensure their business’ safety.
So how can you avoid getting your device hijacked? How to protect it from becoming a part of a botnet? The answer is as simple as it can be – change your login credentials. This is so important, and yet so overlooked, that not doing it can cause botnets such as Mirai, or some other with even more ambition, to do immeasurable damage to the online community.
Should security be a part of the product’s lifecycle when it comes to IoT devices?
The answer to this is yes. The fact is that we live in an age where online attacks aren’t a rare event. Every single day, hackers are attacking someone or something. They’re finding new defenses, and so they’re bound to find new ways of bypassing them. There’s no security that can stop them, and they’re proving that every single day.
That’s why security can’t ever be overlooked, and it needs to be constantly upgraded, and always in the first place, even when it comes to IoT devices. Especially when it comes to IoT devices. This is something that’s overlooked most of the time since companies have many other issues on their minds. Deadlines, business rivals, and countless other problems are pushing them and making them deliver their newest devices as swiftly as possible.
And so, the security of the said devices is often just a basic one, only good enough to protect your device from the smallest threats. That creates the problems for both, the companies that are making the devices, as well as for those who use them.
The solution here can be brought by the market itself, but the fact that speed, quantity, and delivery are more important than quality and security is preventing that. Faced with these issues, the EU is trying to create a new group of IoT rules that the US should follow, as many experts suggest. However, the predictions say that problems will get even worse that they currently are before that happens.
And before that happens, the users of IoT devices can only try and research them as best as they can before the actual purchase. You should know the device’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s vulnerabilities and history of being hacked and used by criminals. And don’t let yourself be tricked by lower price when comparing products since lower prices often mean bad security.
Remember that device won’t belong to you anymore as soon as someone finds out that it has a vulnerability. That’s why you should install all the available updates as soon as you connect the device, and don’t forget to change the password for it. Do whatever you can to increase the devices’ security, and you should be fine. Still, never forget that the dangers did not go away, and keep following the instructions for increasing your security at all times.
