IoT (Internet of Things) is the latest trend in technology. It is gearing up fast to connect any hardware devices to your smart devices. Now, you can literally manage any devices and situations as you wish using IoT.
But, is this most speculated and talked about technology secured? Technocrats prove it otherwise.
HP made a heartbreaking discovery. They have found that about 70% of IoT devices are prone to attack.
Wikileaks showed that through IoT, smart TVs can be used as recording devices, to overhear conversations. In this digital era, safety is the last thing on our checklist. Bank accounts, Mobile passwords, Mobile galleries are all vulnerable to this security issues. So what can you do about this? Read on to know further about the potential threats and how you can deal with it.
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In digital transmission, whichever data you send will be encoded, which can be retrieved by the user. Hackers are always looking for possible ways to steal these data. At a finger snap, your data could be at their fingertips. Imagine you can store your bank details in your smartwatch. There is no assurance that Hackers can’t steal this data away from you. Is this all you want? There are some probable ways by which you can safeguard yourself.
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So, Data has been encrypted. What if the device is hacked? Hackers are obviously jack of all trades, and master of many. They are capable of much more than we think.
Let's suppose you have purchased an IoT device to regulate car parking. The data might pop-up wrong, making you believe there were only vehicles parked. The actual number might have been 7. The No.7 Car driver might misuse the data and indulge in any sort of activities in your building. To avoid all this, use proper protocols that can provide with:
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Tech giants like ARM and Intel have started making security amendments to their smart devices. The reason behind this is IoT. Owing to its hype and catchy theme, IoT was able to attract masses. This stirred many security issues. Smart devices became vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Hardware issues have opened up plenty of questions among IoT enthusiasts.
These chips will ensure a hike in their manufacturing costs. The complex designs will need more battery power. Not all wearable devices will use such chips. Hence secured devices won’t be affordable to everyone. There has to be a better technology, which is approachable to everyone in terms of cost and usage. If devices are not cost friendly to each and every user, then IoT will always remain a rather elite technology.
There was a time when an area consisted of only one PC. It was an envy of economic class. But it all changed one day owing to mass production rate and automation. This could be the case for IoT. Safe and secured hardware, along with cost-efficient solutions could pop up in future times. This will benefit a large audience in more ways.
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Smart IoT devices have to undergo testing before manufacturing. This will reduce IoT security challenges. But, could we always rely on testing that is done by the production unit? Could we not self-test our IoT device? Well, it’s possible.
Device range, the memory capacity of the device, scalability, reconfigurability, and latency of the device must be tested upon, before buying any IoT device. Who knows, if the device is safe enough to be trusted? Unless we test it, we can’t trust the device.
Most importantly, Do it yourself (DIY). Manufacturing testing will enable you to understand that the device is under your control and the data too. There are several YouTube videos and other sources available on the internet, which will help you in this process.
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Updates are a regular process, which every product involves. It is not possible for an over-the-air update, updates without downtime. Data might need to be pulled out temporarily or physically accessed. Some devices might not support data updates especially older ones. The owner might not have opted for device update. In such cases, keeping track of updates is difficult. But you can make use of your device manager to keep track of the versions on each device. This will leave a place for more clearance. Some devices support managing rollbacks or pushing out updates.
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Data storage is not a huge challenge nowadays. As much as zillions of bytes can be stored online. There are facilities but with freedom comes responsibilities. Storing data is not a big deal but backing them up is. The source where we back up data might not be the safest. Anyone can steal the data and intrude into our privacy. For example, let us say you have backed up your IoT data into your mobile. You leave the mobile in a pizza shop. Could we guarantee that the mobile would not be stolen? To avoid these issues, use proper mobile passwords and enable two-way authentication, to avoid hassles.
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Hope this information helps in securing your IoT device successfully.
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