The Pressing Importance of Security and IoT devices

01/17/2019

pbeninca

Blog

0

In our modern world, everything is constantly connected through Internet of Things (IoT) devices, as they feed each other data in real time.  These small devices have the capability of interacting with one another, other electronics in your house or office, your mobile device, or any other device connected to the same network.  This connectivity allows users many luxurious amenities.  For example, you can set the temperature in each room of your office to be different, you can open your doors, and even turn on or off your lights all from your smart phone if you have properly configured your IoT network.  The idea of having everything in your house or office connected for ease of access is futuristic and presents endless possibilities.  These possibilities, however, can be both good and bad.

There is a lot of unknown in the IoT environment due to IoT being a relatively new concept.  However, the biggest risk with IoT devices is security.  Many people believe that they can plug their devices in, turn them on, and immediately reap the benefits of the IoT device but are unaware of how vulnerable these devices can be.  How many people have ensured that their refrigerator fully connected to the network is entirely secure?  Not many.  How about casinos ensuring that their fish tanks are secure?  One casino learned that failing to ensure the security of their IoT network was a rather costly mistake, as a hacker was able to access their network through an IoT connected fish tank.  Subsequently, the hacker was able to stream valuable data from the casino back to his server.  This is why IoT security is a pressing issue on the rise.  From a hacker’s perspective, it does not matter if he hacks into your network through your refrigerator, ten year old medical imaging device, or your desktop, as long as he can access your network he can do some serious damage.

Follow me on Twitter @psimulis

Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/psimulis/

Original article:

https://www.iottechnews.com/news/2018/jul/12/iot-security-spending-hit-6-billion-2023-says-juniper-research/

Post by Paul Beninca

Leave a Reply