4 Ways To Make Sure Your IoT Sensors Are Secure

Smart TVs, gaming consoles, security cameras, smart locks, and smart thermostats - majorly all your internet-connected smart devices are making your homes more intelligent and efficient. They sure have added a level of convenience to your life, but now it's on you to secure your devices and prevent it from cyber-attacks. 

Security need not be a crushing challenge. The inclusion of a few fundamental security capabilities by an IoT developer can create devices with necessary security standards, along with having a firm basis on which additional safety features can be added with time.

Learning of Blog

• Reasons for vulnerability

• Security Considerations for developers

• Four ways for a user to ensure the sensor's safety

• Change default settings

• Secure your connections

• Don't stack up updates

• Use a firewall

• Final Word

In this article, we discuss a defense mechanism for securing smart devices and also the need for it.

Reasons for vulnerability

The Internet of Things (IoT) arena is evolving globally and blooming as new products and technologies are introduced to the marketplace. An Internet of things expert needs to embrace emerging IoT standards, distinguish the product in this competitive field, meet market challenges, and utilize IoT protocols. Due to these challenges, security might not be the top priority. This makes IoT devices like home routers and security cameras more vulnerable to malware.

The reasons for vulnerabilities in these devices can be divided into three categories:

1. Implementation - The weaknesses that occur due to coding errors like buffer overflow and improper seeding of random number generators can be used against in a cyber attack.

2. Design - The failure to include essential measures during the device's development leads to design vulnerabilities. Using hard-coded passwords and devices without secure boot are examples.

3. Deployment - These are generally user introduced issues at the time of installation, such as using weak or default passwords.

The main challenge with installing intelligent sensors is that they must be designed and implemented in such a way that the sensor itself does not provide a new attack surface vulnerable to compromise. 

Security Considerations for developers

It is very well documented that IoT devices have introduced new security risks, which has made risk management a critical element of an IoT company's strategy. Ensuring IoT data integrity is crucial. The information about privacy policies and enabled updates must be public to secure IoT sensors. A Secure boot utilizing cryptic code ensures no third party is involved, and secure firmware update does the same in case of filling in the device.

In addition to building security capabilities into sensor devices, the overall network's security needs to be addressed. Sensor authentication and its data needs to be easily verified and ought to be efficiently gathered along with firm communication to the analytics system within an expected period.

The upcoming IoT training considers the encryption of sensitive data stored on the device as a part of the module.

Four ways for a user to ensure the sensor's safety

Here are some tactical steps users can take to protect their IoT devices and data:

1.    Change default settings

It is vital to customize some standard identifiers, such as the name of the router, username, and password. Also, it is recommended to have one capital letter, one unique character, and one numeral in your password. You can also disable features you don't need.

2.    Secure your connections

As a user, you should know what all devices can be attacked. These are generally security cameras, gaming consoles, smart TV, laptops, etc. When not in use, turn them off so that it's not on the network. Also, using two-step authentication for all devices and avoiding public Wi-fi networks can be quite helpful.

3.    Don't stack up updates

It is preferred to have your system on auto-update mode so that there is no loophole for the hacker. In an office setting, these loopholes can be patched, and further, the Internet of things expert must thoroughly check these patches. If possible, audit the existing devices.

4.    Use a firewall

The firewall acts as an extra layer of security from potential threats. IoT devices might offer a firewall; if not, you can get an additional one depending on your internet usage. It is also beneficial to have a robust encryption method such as WPA2 for Wi-fi and to set up a guest network- this will keep your system of devices private.

Final Word