The Internet of Things isn’t going away anytime soon. You need to be ready to secure and manage it – because if not, you’ll be in trouble.
Self-driving cars. Refrigerators that automatically detect when they’re out of a type of food and order more online. Home thermostats that can control literally everything in a house, from the lights to the locks.
Twenty years ago, this would all sound like something straight out of the pages of science fiction. But it’s far from it. It’s the Internet of Things, and it’s changing both the world and your business.
Thanks to IoT, you’ll see new revenue streams. You’ll gain greater insights than ever before into your employees and customers. You’ll discover new workflows, better ways of delivering products and services, and ultimately a better bottom line.
Unfortunately, there’s one important caveat: security. To be frank, IoT device security is downright abysmal. Device manufacturers are rushing their products to market without a care as to how well-protected they are.
While the coming years will certainly see this problem addressed and vendors held accountable for their poor practices, in the interim it’s entirely up to you to keep your IoT devices secure. And there’s a good chance you aren’t ready to do so yet. Here’s how you can make yourself ready.
Know Your Endpoints
First thing’s first, understand that each new IoT endpoint you bring into your organisation is another potential entry point for a bad actor. Know what data that device will manage, and incorporate a solution that allows you to monitor its activity and wall it off from anything critical if something goes wrong.
If that sounds a lot like EMM or MDM, it should – in a lot of ways, IoT is the next stage of mobility.
Understand The Limits Of Traditional IT Security
Traditional firewalls and security solutions tend to fall short where IoT devices are concerned. You need to implement something more – you need to consider how you’re going to protect and secure your physical sensors, yes, but you also need to account for attacks that specifically target your device. The first step in that is to make sure you’ve got strong credentials, but you’ll also need to ensure you keep it patched and rely on good encryption protocols.
I’d also advise tossing device-level authentication by the wayside where IoT is concerned. Instead, authenticate based on use patterns and behaviour. It’s a lot more secure – and a lot harder for hackers to spoof.
Test. Evaluate. Act.
Last but certainly not least, approach IoT security as an ongoing effort. You should regularly perform penetration tests and security evaluations, and you should always seek to understand new IoT devices and new IoT-focused trends in your industry. Utilize a risk-driven strategy and one that prioritises your most critical assets.
Be Ready For A New Era
The Internet of Things is changing the world. You need to be ready to embrace that change. And part of that readiness involves protecting your data against the myriad security threats and shortcomings IoT represents.
Failure to do so is not an option.
