The Internet of Things (IoT) has rapidly evolved in the past few years. According to a recent survey by Statista, the global market revenue of IoT is expected to grow up to 1.6 trillion dollars by 2025 from 100 billion dollars in 2017. IoT has scaled across industries with increased accessibility to the internet,
enhanced network connectivity, and the growing number of connected devices. Many industries from FMCG and finance to healthcare and manufacturing are experiencing disruption with the introduction of IoT. IoT is also disrupting the domestic sector with the conceptualization of smart homes and smart cities.
Although IoT is a promising technology for most enterprises and businesses, it comes with its own set of challenges. Security issues are one of the top concerns for IoT. According to Gartner, about 20% of the organizations experienced IoT-based attacks in the past three years. Understanding the vulnerabilities of IoT is critical to continue its growth in the future.
Most common security threats for IoT-enabled industries
The connected devices include diverse appliances like refrigerators and washing machines to smart wearables and smartphones – which is why the security concerns of IoT are important to address. Here are some of the common security threats:
- Device hijacking
Smart devices have higher computing capabilities similar to that of a tablet or a personal computer. These devices get converted into mailing servers to send spam emails without the owner’s permission. IoT devices often get used for conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that compromise webcams, smart devices, and appliances like printers.
- Privacy breach
The IP addresses of unsecured devices are traceable for hackers, which may lead to a privacy breach. Hacking such devices can leak the location details, browsing history, and other such private details about the user.
- Malware attacks
The industrial control systems are highly dependent on IoT devices. A malware attack poses a significant threat to the entire system. Malware can take control of the entire system compromising overall safety operations of the industry.
How can IoT be secured?
Security should be a top priority in protecting IoT-based systems and devices. Organizations should consider providing multiple layers of protection to safeguard their systems from potential threats. For strengthening security, IoT data can be processed through advanced analytical systems such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. These technologies are capable of monitoring the inconsistencies in the behavior of the devices connected through IoT and can identify misuse and security threats efficiently. Blockchain is also a promising technology for safeguarding data in IoT-enabled ecosystems, which provides security by eliminating the central authorization in the IoT network. Organizations should also have an advanced security defense center with powerful tools and platforms to monitor behavior analytics, cyber threat intelligence, cloud-based security framework, threat prediction using ML, and so on.
As the number of connected devices keeps increasing, the security of these devices will be equally important to address. Partnering with the right experts for IoT implementation and security can help businesses in maintaining a powerful, connected ecosystem.
We at Vatsa, empower enterprises with tailor-made IoT solutions to help build a secure network connection between the systems and devices. To know more about how you can protect your IoT systems, contact us at contact@vsplc.com
