Top 5 IoT Security Threats in 2019
Just like any other emerging technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) comes up with a lot more benefits and risks. IoT delivers substantial benefits to their end users by bringing unprecedented security challenges.
The Internet of Things is a quickly growing segment of the internet as other components are reliant on people for exchanging information whereas IoT enables connectivity between devices that gather, transmit and receive data.
Here are the top 5 IoT security issues for the most common IoT threats to look after.
1. Device hacking using Spam Emails and conscription into Botnets
Smart devices, for instance, the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator has the same computing power and functionality as of a modern tablet which means that they can be hijacked and turned into email servers. It was found out in 2014 that a smart refrigerator had sent thousands of email spam messages without their owners being aware of the problem. As similar to the refrigerator spending spam email, IoT devices can be forced joined with a malicious botnet for the security purpose of conducting distributed DDoS (denial-of-service attacks).
How to fix it: Avoid unknown emails by reporting spam to restrict the number of spam messages attacking your inbox. This will prevent your account from getting hijacked by the spammers.
2. Not so secured Devices
This threat seems to be insidious since the inception of IoT and the device manufacturers are partly complicit about it. When any IoT device is shipped to store with default ‘admin’ usernames and ‘1234’ passwords, consumers cannot reasonably expect to change and secure the credentials until and unless the manufacturer insists on it through the medium of instructions and reference materials.
How to fix it: It is solely the responsibility of your IoT device manufacturer to provide all-around security to restrict the hacking of your device.
3. The Shodan Search engine
The Shodan IoT search engine has been revealing quite a few security flaws inherent to IoT since the year 2009. It explains how BigPond which is now known as Telstra Media can configure networking devices like wireless home routers running on OpenSSH — a popular site of IoT connectivity tool on a fairly standard port that shared same keys on more than fifty thousand devices. Any sharp hacker can easily be familiar with remote management of routers by easily taking advantage of common SSH keys to intrude upon a home network and search for unprotected IoT devices.
How to fix it: With the help of the device, you can search out the webcams, routers, servers and much more safely. This can prevent attacks from hackers by exposing vulnerable devices.
4. Data Leaks
It is often common to have the data breaches when dealing with the connected IoT devices. To resolve this, allows the users to authenticate IoT devices by introducing multiple user management features for a single IoT device and also implementing robust authentication mechanisms like two-factor authentication, biometrics, and digital certificates.
How to prevent it: For protecting the privacy of users and prevent IoT data breaches, you can encrypt the data at rest and transit between the devices and back-end systems using cryptographic algorithms and fully encrypted key; lifecycle management processes.
5. Test the IoT Hardware
As the IoT devices are easily getting hacked, it is mandatory to insert a robust testing framework in order to ensure the security of its IoT hardware. The chip manufacturers are also required to reinforce the processors for more security and less power consumption without making them too expensive or impractical to be used in the current devices.
How to fix it: Testing the IoT hardware includes stringent testing of the IoT device’s range, capacity, and latency.
The Bottom Line
All these threats do not conclude that we should get scared or afraid of anti-social elements as awareness becomes your first line defense. It is always said that being paranoid save your life sometimes and in this case, IoT solutions and services have proved its mettle and have stood firm against the test of time till now. Keep Learning!
Author Bio:
Vikash Kumar works as a manager in the .net development company Tatvasoft.com. Sometimes he does have free time while managing campaigns, during which he likes to write and explore new technical trends and topics. Vikash also has published his bylines on major platforms and has been blogging since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
