The Internet of Things has invaded different parts of our lives and have made it smarter than ever. From having a smart lock in your home to having a virtual assistant for all your needs, IoT is evolving more than ever. As they say, every coin has two sides, IoT can be as threatening as helpful it is, especially for enterprise security architecture. There are security trade-offs in IoT security in Vancouver that can cause data breaches. Let’s look at a few hacks that can secure the IoT in your enterprise.
Hacks to Secure the Enterprise IoT
The average cost of a data breach to companies worldwide is $3.86 million and you can imagine where the figure must have reached by now. Hackers are everywhere and they can easily spot your vulnerable devices to target them. Enterprises can be the ones left the most damaged by hackers hacking into IoT security devices.
If you are worried about the same thing, let me take you through ten hacks that can guide you to secure the IoT in your enterprise.
Know Your Network and The Connected Devices on It
Internet connections make your devices more vulnerable. As soon as your device is connected in order to process work, it will be more open to attackers if they aren’t adequately secured. As your organization continues to grow, it’s expected for business owners to lose track of which devices are accessible over the wire.
To make sure that your IoT device is secure, you need to know your network and its devices and most importantly, the information they are carrying. Hackers can seize information such as location, personal details, etc., and also keep tabs on you.
Assess the IoT Devices on Your Network
Moving forward from knowing the devices on your network, you have to now know the security posture. IoT security can be gained by installing security patches and updates from the manufacturer’s website. You will have to regularly check for newer models with stronger security features to make sure the data isn’t exposed.
Also, dive into the past performance of the devices and check if any products have reported security bugs that resulted in data breaches. Also, keep a check on how security controls are implemented in the smart solutions.
Implement Strong Passwords to Protect All of Your Devices and Accounts
The most common mistake is to create passwords for your IoT devices that are easy to crack. When you are focussing on your IoT security, you should eliminate the usual and easy passwords that you use. Focus on creating a unique password that isn’t used by any of your employees.
If needed you can make use of a password manager as this can help you to protect your accounts from getting compromised. Moreover, you should also set up a limitation to the wrong password attempts.
Use a Separate Network for Your Smart Devices
A strategic way to go about IoT security is to connect your smart devices to a separate network. Attackers might lose their way because of network segmentation when attempting to hack your IoT devices. And even if the attackers crack into your IoT device network, they can’t gain access to the information, critical business, or bank transfers data that you made using your personal device.
If you are wondering how you will manage two networks, you can use a WiFi management tool as it can help you manage two separate routers.
Reconfigure Your Default Device Settings
This is something that not many people pay attention to in the beginning – default settings on your devices. Most of the time, the default settings make your IoT device more vulnerable to attacks. There is also a possibility where you can’t change certain default settings in order to secure your device at a greater level.
In such situations, you need to deeply assess and reconfigure your default settings according to your requirements. Weak default credentials, intrusive features, and permissions, open ports, etc., are the areas to be looked into.
10 hacks to secure IoT
Install Firewalls and Other Reputable IoT Security Solutions to Identify Vulnerabilities
It’s necessary to monitor and analyze your network traffic and one of the ways to do that is by installing firewalls. It can help you block unauthorized traffic over the wire and run systems/intrusion prevention systems. You can also use automated scanners that can spot the vulnerabilities and bring the security weakness to your eye.
Moreover, you can also give a shot to port scanners that can identify open ports and review the network services. Come up with an answer to if these ports are really needed and if not, eliminate them. If they do, examine the services running on them to spot known vulnerabilities.
Use Strong Encryption and Avoid Connecting Over Insecure Networks
Avoiding public WiFi networks to check up on your smart devices remotely is the first thing you need to remember. Because using them directly puts your IoT devices exposed to attackers. Don’t even use the networks that aren’t encrypted as it can cause you a big-time data breach. More importantly, make sure your network setup does not run on standards like WEP or WPA — instead, runs on WPA2.
You should also know that WPA2, KRACK, WPA3, all are prone to certain attacks on them. So, installing updates and patches is your only way to go to ensure IoT hacks.
Disconnect Devices and Features When They’re Not in Use
If you are looking for IoT security, it is recommended to read the privacy policy and review the app permissions to know how your information is going to be used. The features that can bring you closer to a data breach or an attack should be turned off i.e., remote access, voice control.
Develop a habit of enabling these features only when needed and over a secured network. And when you aren’t using it, disconnect them from the network altogether.
Turn off Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
Attackers are exploiting UPnP weaknesses as a jumping-off point for bigger attacks like DDoS, malware distribution, phishing attacks, and credit card theft. Because UPnP makes your devices easily discoverable to attackers.
It was found that 4.1 million internet-facing UPnP devices were potentially vulnerable to being employed in a reflection DDoS attack. You can imagine the amount of IoT security risk it carries. So, always remember to check your settings and disable them to save your data.
Keep Your Devices Safe by Implementing Physical Security
Losing your smart device is something you cannot recover from. To stay safe beforehand, create PIN/password/biometric protection on your device. It is advisable to make sure that you have remote access to the device to wipe out important data in case you lose it.
Ready to secure your IoT devices?
Whichever options you opt for your IoT security, there are a few measures that you should always take to protect your enterprise. Day by day, IoT security risks in Vancouver are increasing and it can ruin your brand and reputation, as well as compromise sensitive data.
With a complete suite of IT security services, ActiveCo’s team of professionals can protect all your IT assets including computers, routers, firewalls, servers, and mobile devices.
