Common IoT Security Issues & How to Prevent Them
Integrating devices through the IoT brings far-reaching convenience to businesses. Yet, it comes with a daunting concern—security. Let’s picture a scene: a smartphone or other device is connected to a laptop for data transfer, and the process is intercepted by malware through an insecure network. Isn’t it precarious? It can cause potential havoc in the form of security breaches.
- December 14, 2023
IoT devices may even ship with viruses that seriously affect the network when they connect. Undoubtedly, the IoT market is growing at a skyrocketing pace, but IoT security challenges have exposed vulnerabilities. Discussing the underlying risks and key areas for protecting IoT ecosystems has become more crucial than ever.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common IoT security issues and provide practical steps to mitigate them, ensuring a safer and more resilient IoT ecosystem.
A Snapshot of IoT Security Breach Cost
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It is important to note that the risk of IoT security breaches goes beyond technical glitches and can end up in significant financial losses. According to the 2024 benchmark report, the average cost of an IoT security breach incident in 2023 was almost $9.5 million.
These potential losses can incur unauthorized access with potential losses in various areas, including damage control efforts, legal fees, and more. The report highlights concerns regarding an attack on IoT infrastructure as follows.
- 43% – stolen or leaked customer or other vulnerable data,
- 14% – operational downtime
- 17% – the intellectual property theft
- 31% – reputational damage in market
IoT Device vs IoT Application Security
This part outlines the comparison between IoT devices and cloud IoT applications. The security of both is the critical component of an IoT security framework.
| IoT Device Security | Cloud IoT Applications |
| IoT device security emphasizes safeguarding the physical devices ensuring protection against tampering and vulnerabilities. | Cloud IoT app security focuses on the protection of cloud-based infrastructure and apps that store, analyze, and manage data gathered by IoT devices. |
| IoT device security is about securing individual devices against any IoT malware threats. | On the other hand, cloud IoT app safety involves the protection of wide systems that these valuable devices are integrated to. |
| Both are equally significant, even if the IoT devices are shielded against vulnerabilities, the susceptibilities in the cloud application can still lead to potential security pitfalls. | Conversely, a safeguarded cloud ecosystem cannot compensate for insufficient data encryption at the device level. |
The overall security measures ensure that IoT ecosystems are end to end encrypted. This encryption goes from data collection through devices to the cloud systems for processing and storing it. Let’s understand some of the key IoT security issues and solutions.
IoT Security Breaches and Examples
Some of the high-profile examples of IoT devices being compromised by cyber attackers in recent years are listed below. These include:2021: Verkada Camera Feeds Hacking
A security camera firm named Verkada faced a VPNFilter malware in 2018. It infected almost half a million routers in more than 50 countries. VPNFilter malware has the capability to install malware onto different devices unsafely connected to your router. It gathers data passing through, abruptly blocks network traffic, and steals sensitive passwords.2016: Mirai Botnet Attack
Another attack was reported in 2016 when thousands of compromised connected devices were directly pulled into a botnet named Mirai. It is a computer network that has been willfully infected by some malware. The core aim was to carry out automated tasks on the internet without seeking permission or bringing it to the notice of the devices’ owners. The result of the Mirai attack largely impacted the services of Netflix, PayPal, and Spotify. They were temporarily paralyzed.What are the Common IoT Security Challenges and Vulnerabilities?
IoT infrastructure presents several security threats, often stemming from the difficulty of keeping track of integrated devices. Many don’t realize that weak security, limited resources, and rare updates make IoT systems more vulnerable.
The lack of standard security protocols increases IoT risks and complicates device management. Without proper security measures, these vulnerabilities can expose businesses and individuals to potential cyber threats.
Poor Attestation Process
Many IoT systems and devices have limited mechanisms for integrity and identity verification before they connect with a network. If the robust authentication mechanisms are truly unavailable to attest to a device’s legitimacy, vulnerable devices can easily become prey to surface attacks. Unauthorized access allows malicious code or unexpected modifications to go undetected leading to attacks and data leaks.
Default Passwords Hazard
Most IoT devices continue operating on default weak passwords. Buyers who often purchase these devices forget to change their passwords. Weak passwords and insecure login credentials leave IoT devices with the challenges of securing IoT devices. Unsecured devices become easy for hacking and brute force attacks.
Rise of Remote Working
Following the pandemic, remote working has amplified around the world. While IoT devices have brought convenience to many users at work from their sanctuary, often home networks are unstable and unsafe to counter foreign invaders. The uncontrolled usage has highlighted IoT security loopholes.
System Complexity
Sometimes the advanced capabilities of IoT ecosystems end up with numerous security challenges. Almost 48% of security leaders raised the complexity concerns of their IoT ecosystem causing hindrance protection against potential threats. The variety of digital products from diverse manufacturers with a wide assortment of operating systems leads to security oversights. Efficient and secure asset management can fix systemic challenges.
Unpatched Vulnerabilities
In the IoT-dense digital setup where most devices run unpatched severely exposes the vulnerabilities. Surprisingly, the lack of necessary updates or the complexity of applying security patches further exacerbates the situation. IoT devices often remain in use for longer without any updates being installed or available.
Data Privacy Concerns
Undoubtedly, IoT devices massively collect, transmit, store, and process a vast trove of user data. Often third parties purchase this data. Normally users unknowingly accept the terms of service without giving them a thorough read before using IoT devices. It raises multiple IoT privacy issues for users about how their sensitive information may be processed.
Legacy Infrastructure
Even in the modern age, many businesses prefer to lean on traditional IoT devices. This old-designed and deployed infrastructure often lacks the major security features of modern technology. Normally organizations are reluctant to adopt the latest infrastructure due to the hefty cost and complexity of upgrading them.
Ways to Protect Your IoT Device
Undoubtedly there are a bunch of challenges but the IoT security breach prevention practices unlock the ways to tackle them. It is crucial to understand your IoT infrastructure and implement the following methods to improve the security posture.
Use Secondary Networks
It is imperative to isolate your IoT devices from the primary network, e.g., Wi-Fi. It adds an additional layer of protection. Multiple networks with restricted access can proactively safeguard confidential data from invalid users. This is important to control unauthorized access to private files, and block malware attempts to hijack IoT units without compromising other systems on your network.
Don’t Over Rely on Cloud Solutions
Cloud technology has revolutionized the tech world, but this swiftly emerging technology is vulnerable to attacks. IoT manufacturers provide specific cloud storage space in almost every latest device with IoT security in cloud computing. It seems enticing to use but consider having an active connection to access data stored in the cloud. Keep your data backup and review the privacy measures before using the cloud account.
Update your Device Regularly
Another best practice is to update your device with the latest features. Ensure the automatic updates must be in place to timely install them. This ensures the security patches are properly installed on your device, blocking hackers from using novel ways of attacking them.
Choose the Strong Password and Often Change
Don’t stick to the same old password for long. Change the passwords regularly on different devices and accounts considering it substantial for your due diligence. Ensure each IoT has a unique password, complex and uncrackable. A complex and sophisticated password is a basic key to the endpoint encryption against unauthorized access.
Despite various challenges and privacy issues in IoT devices, it has almost penetrated into every aspect of our work and lives. Implementing a robust and practical IoT security strategy with the consultancy of expert IT professionals assists organizations in discovering and enforcing security measures effectively.
Friendly Asked Questions
1. What are Two Major Concerns Regarding IoT Devices?
Privacy and hacking attempts are the two key concerns for IoT device users. As the IoT devices are closely connected hackers can manipulate the data, rendering it unusable.
2. What are the Problems You Face with Consumer IoT Products?
Some of the major IoT product challenges include trusted offline functionality, encryption on devices, management of large troves of data, vulnerability detection difficulties and maintenance due to limited resources.
3. Is IoT a Security Risk?
As IoT devices mostly rely on weak authorization practices, they often become more vulnerable to potential threats. Using the best protective measures can overcome the security risks.
4. What are the 5 Types of Security Attacks Normally Cause by IoT?
The five major security attacks that can affect IoT devices include phishing, ransomware, spoofing, data theft, and DDoS attacks. These attacks can cause hefty losses to businesses.
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