This article is about Security for Internet of Things and Electric Vehicles. We will analyze different aspects of the Internet of Things. Why and how it matters. We will also discuss various industries where it can be applicable and ways to improve their security.
Security for the Internet of Things
First of all, we need to understand what is the Internet of Things. In simple words, the Internet of Things is a system of interrelated devices. These devices can be computing devices, mechanical devices, and maybe digital devices. These can be any objects, human beings, or even animals, which are provided with unique identifications. These devices have the ability to transfer data over a network and they do not require human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
When we say the Internet of Things, we mean that the thing can be any person, any animal, it can be any automobile, or any device or gadget. These objects are assigned an internet protocol address or IP address from where data is transferred over the network.
Internet of Things Security
We have seen that in the past few years, IoT transformed our life and the way we live, work, and perform various activities. They have entered our life and has made them way more convenient and efficient through various systems and devices which are connected to one another.
In 2020, the number of IoT devices was 9.7 billion. This number will increase to more than 30 billion by the end of the year 2030.
So, when these devices are connected to one another, the next important aspect that comes to everyone’s mind is security. There are hackers who are working day and night to exploit people’s hard-earned money. In another way, we can say that these devices have become the soft target for various attacks.
The Necessity of Security for the Internet of Things
The number of devices getting connected is increasing day by day. People are becoming slaves to these devices. They are getting dependent on their work, daily life business, and every small aspect of our life. These devices are collecting a lot of data on a daily basis. These data are being collected and shared making them a soft target for hackers and cyber criminals. Simple IoT devices can be used to gather various types of information and details about any family and their financial transactions.
This can become very crucial and life-harming at some point in life. These data are being collected and sold to foreign companies from where they can be misused or can be used for security threats.
Data Related to IoT Security
According to a report by Sonic Wall, there is a significant increase in attacks related to IoT devices in recent times. In 2022, there was an increase in 77% of malware attacks on various IoT devices. However, it was mentioned that there was a decline of around 25% in terms of ransomware attacks if you talk about IoT-connected devices. Talking about cryptogenic attacks, there was an increase of 33% in attacks. Talking in terms of intrusion attempts, there was an increase of 19% of these for all IoT devices.
IoT and Security Threats
There are various kinds of security threats if we talk about IoT devices. Some of the most common are-
Application Layer Threats–
Session Hijacking.
Malicious Code Injection.
Multi-user Access.
Network Layer Threats–
Routing and DOS Attack.
Threats to NDP Protocol.
Data Transit Attacks.
Perception Layer Threats-
Signal Jamming or Radio Jamming.
Spoofing.
Node Outage or Node Capturing.
Support Layer Threats-
Unauthorized Access.
Data Tempering.
Threats for Various Industries
- Consumer Electronics Industry– Nowadays, many electronic devices are connected to one another and through the internet. These devices store a lot of data on a daily basis. There is a high potential risk for these devices. A single hijacker in the year 2016, hijacked hundreds of thousands of devices which were electronic devices and created a lot of problems.
- Automotive Industry– Nowadays, all the latest vehicles are connected to the internet and have a lot of IoT devices installed in them. Not only vehicles, but these high-end technology-loaded industries have also a lot of IoT devices. Toyota company stopped its operations on one of its plants due to a dangerous cyber attack last year. The hackers and attackers attacked their internal systems and collected a lot of internal information and manufacturing details of the company. They also made a bridge in the details of their customers and employees as well as financial accounts.
- Manufacturing Industry– There was a very famous case with Norsk Hydro, a multinational Aluminium manufacturer. This company was operating in 40 countries. They had to shut down many plants due to a ransomware attack. The attackers attacked their IT systems and various business functions. There are various other instances where hackers attacked and collected a lot of data regarding the manufacturing processes and other sensitive information.
- Such is the case with various other industries such as the retail industry and the healthcare industry where a lot of such cases have been detected in the last few years.
Improving IoT Security
There are several ways through which we can improve the Security for Internet of Things devices. We need to make sure that our network, data, and all the devices that are connected are secured in the best possible manner. But it is a bitter truth that it is a very difficult and challenging task to safeguard our devices against malicious attacks and unauthorized access. We are listing down a few ways through which we can improve the security of these devices-
- We must install the latest security patches at regular intervals.
- We must segment our network to prevent any unauthorized access.
- We must make our passwords very much strong for accessing any software and implementing multi-factor authentication.
- We must adopt a lead approach to security by using multiple security features which can be firewalls, anti-virus software, intrusion detection, systems, and many more.
- We must not rely on default security settings which may be vulnerable to various attacks.
- We can maintain a global access map to track and control the access of our connected devices and networks.
- Internet usage must be restricted on connected devices.
- All the important data must be protected by blocking programs behind a firewall.
- Certain softwares and their features must be restricted to use.
- The most recent softwares must be installed on all the networks and connected devices which will keep us updated with all the security features.
- We can create a separate network for all the IoT devices which will prevent unauthorized access.
- We must implement various security measures which will ensure that the connected devices cannot be easily spoofed.
- Assigning unique IDS to each device can also make them safe to a long extent.
Conclusion
So we have seen Security for Internet of Things in this article. We can understand that today we are surrounded by these Internet of things devices. They have made our life easier and we are dependent on them at every step of our life. They are collecting a lot of data in 24 hours. These devices have access to a lot of personal data and can become a threat to us at any point in time.
Here, we have discussed various threats as well as ways to improve the security of our devices. We hope that after reading this article, our readers will implement these ways to enhance their personal security on all devices which will help them against various threats related to IoT devices.
