Security of ‘Internet of Things’

‘Internet of Things’ is around us for many years, may be with different names but now IoT has become an industry buzzword. The experts are already calling Internet of Things as the next Industrial revolution – changing the way people interact with devices. The growth of IoT has happened at a staggering rate for the past few years which has led to the plethora of connected devices. According to the latest survey, it’s predicted that the number of devices connected to the internet will rise from 10 billion currently to 34 billion devices by 2020. IoT devices will account for 24 billion while traditional computing devices like smartphones, tablets, smart-watches, etc. will comprise 10 billion. Now, most of the things from cars to home automation systems are interconnected, and while these interconnected devices have made life little easier, but they’ve also created new attack vectors for hackers. Hack of a smart-connected appliance could be dangerous and a lot more threatening than a simple PC hack.
Security firm Kaspersky recently ran a concerning critique of IoT security challenges with the headline, “Internet of Crappy Things”, According to the security research firm, in general, the problem is there is a superabundance of appliances which are connected without a thought whether it’s necessary or not. Similar concern has been raised by embedded technology leader, Windriver. The company security experts believe that security at both the device and network levels is crucial to the operation of IoT.  The intelligence that empowers devices to perform their tasks must also enable them to recognize and counteract threats.
These ‘things’, collectively called the internet of things (IoT) are poised to become more pervasive in our lives than mobile phones and will have access to the most sensitive personal data such as social security numbers and banking information. As the number of connected IoT devices will steadily increase, security issues will also multiply exponentially. A couple of security concerns on a single device such as a mobile phone can quickly turn to 50 or 60 concerns when considering multiple IoT devices in an interconnected home or business. In light of the importance of what IoT devices have access to, it’s important to understand their security risk.