Part two of the IoT security series picks up from Part 1, continuing the 2020 enumeration of what makes IoT estates hard to secure: patch visibility, firmware update cadence, autonomous data handling, and user privacy.
How do you tell if a device is affected?
IoT devices are difficult to monitor at scale, making breach detection unreliable. "Most of the users don't get to know if their device is hacked," creating visibility gaps even for service providers managing numerous interconnected devices.
Data protection and security challenges
Data traverses multiple devices rapidly — mobile, web, cloud — via internet transmission, exposing information to leakage and unauthorized access. Non-compliant service providers compound regulatory violations and privacy breaches.
In this interconnected world, the protection of data has become really difficult because it gets transferred between multiple devices within a few seconds. One moment, it is stored in mobile, the next minute it is on the web, and then the cloud.
All this data is transferred or transmitted over the internet, which can lead to data leak. Not all the devices through which data is being transmitted or received are secure. Once the data gets leaked, hackers can sell it to other companies that violate the rights for data privacy and security.
Furthermore, even if the data doesn’t get leaked from the consumer side, the service providers might not be compliant with regulations and laws. This can also lead to security incidents.
Use of autonomous systems for data management
Managing massive data volumes requires AI tools and automation, yet misconfiguration risks operational outages in critical sectors like healthcare, finance, power, and transportation.
From a data collection and networking point-of-view, the amount of data generated from connected devices will be too high to handle.
It will undoubtedly need the use of AI tools and automation. IoT admins and network experts will have to set new rules so that traffic patterns can be detected easily.
However, the use of such tools will be a little risky because even a slightest of mistakes while configuring can cause an outage. This is critical for large enterprises in healthcare, financial services, power, and transportation industries.
Small Scale Attacks In IoT
Small-scale attacks on common devices like printers and cameras evade detection more effectively than large-scale breaches.
Although security professionals are focused on preventing large scale attacks, it is actually the small scale attacks that could be among the more serious IoT security challenges. Small scale attacks are more difficult to detect and could easily occur without an enterprise being aware of it. Hackers can breach common enterprise technologies such as printers and cameras.
Infrequent Firmware Updates
Infrequent firmware updates leave IoT devices vulnerable to known exploits.
Software updates are one way that IT professionals ensure that computers and mobile devices are as secure as can be. Some IoT devices may lack the number of software updates that other technologies may receive. In addition, enterprises struggle to provide critical security updates to IoT devices in the field.
IoT Financial-Related Breaches
Financial systems using IoT for payments face theft risks, though some organizations employ machine learning and blockchain countermeasures.
With some enterprises using IoT devices for electronic payments, there is always a risk for a hacker to breach and steal the money. Some organizations are integrating machine learning or blockchain to stop financial fraud before it happens to an internet-connected device. However, not every organization has tried this solution yet.
Security of autonomous vehicles
Connected vehicles face remote hijacking threats.
Just like homes and Wide Area Networks, the self-driving vehicles or the ones that make use of IoT services, are also at risk. Smart vehicles can be hijacked by skilled hackers from remote locations. Once they get access, they can control the car, which can be very risky for passengers.
User Privacy
Employee-issued IoT devices create internal privacy exposure, where breaches damage organizational reputation.
Enterprises must protect user data (that goes for both a company’s external and internal users). This is especially a concern because many workers are using IoT devices provided by their employers. When a breach happens and private data is compromised, an enterprise’s reputation would take a big hit, which is why this is one of the top IoT security challenges that can’t be ignored.
Conclusion / About Ambimat Electronics
Close to 4 decades of design experience.
Undoubtedly, IoT is a technology that should be called a boon. But since it connects all the things to the Internet, things become vulnerable to some sort of security threats. Big companies and cybersecurity researchers are giving their best to make things perfect for the consumers, but there is still a lot to be done.
Difficult to find if a device is affected.
Enterprises have numerous methods of detecting data breaches, which involve spotting common indicators, monitoring user activity, and other security protocols. However, due to the growing number of IoT devices —and the complexities of each device — normal threat dedication methods could be less reliable and more of a challenge. Although it is not really possible to guarantee 100% security from security threats and breaches, the thing with IoT devices is that most of the users don’t get to know if their device is hacked.
When there is a large scale of IoT devices, it becomes difficult to monitor all of them even for the service providers. It is because an IoT device needs apps, services, and protocols for communication. Since the number of devices is increasing significantly, the number of things to be managed is increasing even more.
Hence, many devices keep on operating without the users knowing that they have been hacked.
Security professionals need to be proactive in order to prevent IoT security breaches before they occur. However, some enterprises might lack a robust management system that could monitor activity and provide insights into potential threats. Without this type of solution, an enterprise won’t have the capabilities to spot potential breaches ahead of time.