Since the introduction of enterprise IoT, businesses have grappled with related security issues “ a problem that is particularly relevant today as they consider how to collect and manipulate IoT data to improve outcomes across all sectors.
What does it take to make IoT safer? Examining best practice protocols for IoT, IT teams should consider how firewalls function within their network and implement stronger borders around enterprise data. This is the surest way to protect key business interests as well as guard client information.
Mass Production, Mass Fragility
One of the biggest challenges to IoT security is the fact that most of these products are meant for the mass market. Think about Fitbits, smart home tech, and even water bottles and appliances “ their mass market popularity means they are, in Jon Hedren’s words, generally shoddy, insecure and easily breakable. Securing these devices goes against their very nature.
If businesses are going to protect client data, they need to start at home, rather than at the enterprise level. When they purchase an IoT product, clients should be encouraged to guard their Wi-Fi carefully, renaming it, using two-factor authentication, and installing a smart firewall. This more advanced security framework can alert you to potential threats or unusual device behavior, not just block obvious attacks.
Firewalls also work well as part of a broader set of security features. For example, SafeThings from Avira combines numerous different monitoring tools to protect home routers. In fact, depending on individual user needs and changing threats, the system can be enhanced using a dedicated app store, adding modules to the security system as needed. As a B2B2C system, SafeThings brings security home.
Go Multilevel
To truly protect IoT from consumer to company, it’s important to think of IoT security as a multilevel process, including securing devices, securing networks, and securing the overall system. Each of these steps is vital to preventing virtual attacks and these security levels should be reinforced and upgraded regularly by applying standard patches, developing device disposal protocols, and seek formal privacy certifications.
One of the best ways to insure device security is through a built-in firewall, still an unusual feature for most IoT devices. Cato Networks takes care of the problem by building a fully managed suite of network security services into the network. Cato Networks’ Cato Cloud is a firewall as a service (FWaaS) offering that includes next generation firewall (NGFW), as well as secure web gateway (SWG), and intrusion prevention system (IPS) capabilities. Moving security into the network is transforming how we think of protection. While IoT tools have relied on firewalls running in appliances, such as those attached to an at-home or business router, to protect proprietary data, built-in NGFW makes firewall accessible to mobile users.
Managing M2M
Talking about consumer-side IoT security is important because that’s often the starting point for breaches, but it isn’t enough. Rather, it’s important to return to the business side and consider how IT security meets OT tools if business are to fully understand the complexity of IoT risk.
OT tools rarely have contact with outside forces “ they aren’t the things you were about having hacked when developing a business plan. However, OT devices do communicate machine-to-machine (M2M) with IT technology, the role of which is largely to transmit messages and communicate with the outside. Enhancing IT security, then, is vital to protecting OT tools and keeping your business running.
One option for securing the IT/OT connection, mentioned previously, is by using FWaaS [DG1]. Though FWaaS isn’t a good option for IoT devices themselves “ there’s no reason to scale up internal device security “ FwaaS grows with your business and is self-maintained, meaning you won’t struggle with gaps. The service provider manages your firewall as needed, keeping the boundaries between consumer devices, your IT system, and OT devices completely secure.
The Limits Of IoT
Firewall services, whether internal systems of FWaaS, can do a lot to better secure IoT-related data, but as the IoT industry continues to grow, companies need to consider whether its implementation is necessary. Does everything really need to be smart ?
Though smart IoT tools offer a lot regarding flexibility, sustainability, and function more broadly, they will always be a target of cyberattacks. Before implementing IoT in a product, ask yourself what its role is. Is the goal simply to collect and analyse data or is that data attached to the device’s operations? If the function is simply data for the sake of data, security may mandate you take a step back.
