The Internet of Things represents a potential platform for technology development, for companies that are interested in using more devices for greater efficiency. This can be any company, from medical organizations to industrial enterprises, where Internet things are used. More than 41 billion IoT devices will be in use in 2027, according to a Business Insider study. On the one hand, companies that implement the Internet of Things get more efficient compared to those who ignore this technology, but on the other hand, it opens more doors for hackers to penetrate the system.
For example, according to a study by NETSCOUT, Internet of Things devices are usually attacked within five minutes. This is the average time it takes to attack an Internet Things device after it gains access to the Internet. This raises the important issue that we need to pay more attention to the security of our IoT devices and we will go into more detail below.
First of all, the future market for IoT devices is going to grow larger, which means that security professionals in organizations must be able to manage a huge ecosystem and find critical vulnerabilities in their devices. However, as the current situation shows, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute and Shared Assessments, 56 percent of risk professionals do not keep an inventory of IoT devices. This means that most companies that use IoT devices do not prioritize IoT security and do not understand the real risks that may arise in the future or have already arisen. Furthermore, the pandemic has made threats more sophisticated and widespread.
For example, the largest place where IoT devices are used is in the manufacturing sector. One of the existing problems with IoT servicing in the manufacturing sector is that routine security maintenance can be onerous. Typical security issues include the fact that most IoT devices use standard passwords, do not receive regular security updates, and insufficient data protection. The result is a hands-on approach to patching and software upgrades for fear of shutting down the production environment prior to uptime.
Cybercriminals will stop at nothing, even hacking into medical equipment. An example of this was the WannaCry ransomware attack on the NHS in 2017, which affected computers, MRI scanners and operating room equipment and could have bad consequences for thousands of people. It is for these reasons that the security of the Internet of Things is critical to the modern world and we must take care to make our world more secure.
High-quality security of the Internet of Things will allow the company not to lose a lot of money to eliminate the consequences after hackers penetrate the system using critical vulnerabilities that were found in the devices of the Internet of Things. We have prepared tips for companies who are worried about the security of their Internet things and are ready to share them below:
The first step your company must take to improve the security of IoT devices is to change the default passwords to new ones in order to protect itself from accidental hacking, which could happen if an attacker uses a standard password to control the IoT device. You can configure the system so that after a certain time, the password will need to be changed to a new one, this will also increase your security level.
The next step to improve security is to make sure your devices use active security measures, such as password protection, is one way to protect against potential attacks. It is also important to constantly monitor what network traffic is coming from your IoT device, so that unknown connections do not arise, for this it is enough to correctly configure the firewall. Keeping software up-to-date is imperative in the fight against IoT security risks.
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When writing this article, our company used the following sources:
