IoT varies from common traditional internet since it doesn’t rely on human intervention to function. It has developed by leaps and bounds in a defined time frame. Ranging from the development of smartwatches to washing machines with internet connectivity, more gadgets and appliances now connected in some form to the internet. These devices are designed to do everything from boosting productivity of a company, reducing energy spending within a house, and lowering overhead.
More businesses are now expected to explore latest ways to deploy IoT devices. However, there are skilled hackers and cyber-criminals taking IoT devices as a backdoor into a company network. The strength of network security is defined by the weakest link that lies inside an IoT connected device. Any enterprise should understand the impact of IoT on cybersecurity as nobody from the company and its clientele will be glad to know when confidential details and financial documents breach.
The Concept of IoT
First, understand what IoT is. IoT is any inter-networking of a device having internet connectivity for exchanging data. IoT enabled devices can be smartwatches, hardware sensors, computer programs, etc. Modern terms define IoT as smart devices. So, any gadget with smart pre-fix or tag is an IoT gadget.
There are three main categories of IoT –
- Information Technology
- Operational Technology
- Smart Objects
IT or information technology helps link IP devices. This has a list of devices like mobiles, firewalls, printers, routers, switches, etc.
Operational technology controls, automates, processes and handles a network. This includes hardware like process information systems, programmable logic controller, acquisition systems, etc.
Smart objects are the devices used for reporting information and/ or retrieving order. Smart objects are the sensors and actuators used for making smart thermostats to smart coffee makers.
IoT is science, not fiction. This is a true story- if a person put off the earphones once he reached home, IoT is powerful to automatically play the music, he was listening in an earphone, through the home speaker system.
According to the market survey report, about 40 billion smart devices will be used by 2020. Each individual will be having minimum of 10 connected objects by 2020. IoT has sure-shot potential to change the life of people. However, there is a doubt about security and privacy. IoT devices manufacturing companies need to worry about security and privacy of the users using their smart devices. It is discovered that 70% of the topmost types of IoT devices are at risk of cyber threats.
Smart gadgets like connected cars, toys, drones, home security locks, etc. can be at great risk of security as hackers can attack their OS and handle the device. For instance, if the home security cameras get hacked, hackers can easily access live and recorded videos and may plan to break into the house when you leave.
Any threat caused to IoT or a website has a reason. Every threat or attack is man-made for different purposes.
The most basic and easy to target threat is the vulnerability of IoT. A vulnerability has its two kinds- software and hardware. Attackers find it hard to penetrate a hardware vulnerability. However, if they get succeed, it is harder to repair or recover the damage. Software gets hacked when the code is not secure. It is still easy for hackers to attack software than hardware.
Human attacks on IoT devices can be detected as-
- Cyber reconnaissance – In this attack, an intruder or attacker applies different cracking techniques and malware to spy on targeted users to access sensitive data or the existing systems.
- Password hacking – Attackers make single or several attempts to hack the user’s password using automated software. This software makes countless attempts until the right password is found.
- Tracking – IoT devices have UID and hackers can track each and every move of the user through this ID. The exact location in time can be tracked.
- Controlled attacks – Attacker uses a specially made virus that is programmed to function in a certain way that it destroys the host device.
What stops cybersecurity threats?
There is no such system that can stop cybersecurity threats. However, a python development company can prevent security breaching by limiting the data. Cloud development has helped many corporate IoT devices, but at the same time, hardware becomes prone to threats due to repetitive data communication between cloud and device. Every business should structure the data and should not lump all devices in a solo category. It is important to create blanket security measures.
The IoT has great potential to enhance productivity, save costs, and drive future projects for each department of the company. The only thing that can help IoT reach its full potential is considering proper security measures to protect internet access points
