The internet of things technology is taking the digital world by storm and cloud unified communications offering many benefits for consumers, businesses, industrial sector, and transportation and healthcare industries. At the same time, bringing some mighty challenges for IT teams as well.
According to Juniper Research, the number of IoT connections will jump from 35 billion in 2020 to about 83 billion by 2024.
IoT security challenges
Here is the list of potential security challenges that IoT technology pose for IT teams in companies.
Lack of physical security
Malicious attempts are often done to physical change the IoT devices, especially those that are located in remote regions for extended periods.
For example, USB drives can be infected with malware. Hence, manufacturers must ensure the safety of physical devices against all odds. At the same time, building secure sensors and transmitters for cheap IoT solutions is a significant challenge.
Botnet attacks
Hackers use malware infected machines, known as botnets, to crash down a target by sending thousands of requests per second.
And IoT-based machines are highly prone to botnet attacks as they don’t enjoy regular security updates like our regular computers in home and offices. Consequently, hackers can use affected IoT machines for malicious purposes, for instance, directing a large number of traffic.
No visibility
Lack of visibility is another major issue that IT professionals face. As many IoT devices aren’t registered with the IT inventory records, it is extremely difficult to track visibility of all devices.
While devices like smart ventilation and air conditioning systems, coffee machines, etc. aren’t deemed important by IT pros. This makes it difficult to stop security breaches as devices aren’t connected to the network.
Industrial surveillance
IoT devices are notorious for spying or collecting user information, for example, tools like smart watches, toys, etc. and patient data from health related equipment.
Just give a thought what opportunities could espionage presents for all the hackers out there. From corporate scams to ground level blackmailing, the challenge as well as room for improvement for IT professionals to counter back is huge.
Hijacking
Ransomware attacks are another major problem that affects encryption and block access to sensitive data. In doing so, the hacker will demand a ransom from the authorized owner of the data to unlock the files.
And IoT devices with poor security are the easiest targets for ransomware attacks.
What are the best IoT security solutions?
Do remember that any devices that is connected to the internet is exposed to attacks as briefed above. However, the following tips should help IT teams and companies offering professional IT services like cloud unified communications in alleviating such threats.
Employ IoT security analytics
Security analytics are powerful enough to quickly detect security issues at the first call and greatly mitigate the risks posed by various attacks. The idea is to aid security professionals in detecting and preventing potential threats by gathering valuable data from different sources.
Moreover, analytics also locate harmful abnormalities in network traffic by correlating data from various domains. Security professionals will regulate these anomalies and prevent them from affecting the devices.
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) security
Every second that you’re using your smart home appliances, at the same, your data and behavior is being collected as IoT devices regularly stream data.
This is where reliable EDR tools come into action! Helping IT teams recognize attacks in real-time through alert and visibility and prevent data loss.
The automated response feature will help in identifying issues in real-time. Therefore, offering a strong threat intelligence IQ.
Threat intelligence will assist you in configuring and deploying IoT-connected tools in more secure ways. Through this, cloud unified communications & IoT tools’ producers can improve the base security of their tools by limiting threats right from the first stage of product development.
Visibility
IT professionals need to have top visibility tools like network access controls to acquire and keep a thorough inventory of all IoT-connected devices.
This approach will automatically update the inventory whenever a new device connects, and also verify the connection on periodic basis.
A clear visibility helps businesses keep track of their IoT tools and respond to security issues in a timely manner.
Encrypted communication
Attackers will hit communication mediums to compromise and gain access to your IoT devices, therefore, encryption protocols like HTTPS, AES 128, and AES 256 are really helpful.
Hence, encryption between IoT tools and others like web and mobile apps is necessary to prevent data breach.
Authentication
A comprehensive device authentication can greatly contain the vulnerability of IoT devices, no doubt hackers have their best interests in a business’s confidential data.
Apparently, there are various authentication measures including digital certificates, multi-factor authentication, and biometric for different IoT tools.