Security Challenges and Emerging Networks: Characteristics, Usefulness, Drawbacks and Countermeasures of IoT

This research paper discusses the characteristics, usefulness, drawbacks, and countermeasures of IoT. It identifies security challenges and emerging networks in IoT and provides mitigation techniques and tools.

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I.INTRODUCTION1
Internet of things refers to the multi connection of
millions of physical devices around the world to the
internet, gathering and sharing data. With wireless
network and cheap processors, it’s possible to turn
anything to IoT. IoT enhances digital intelligence to the
dumb perceived digital devices, enabling them to
communicate without involvement of human beings and
merging physical and digital worlds [1]. These
technological uprising represents the future of
communication and computing, and its improvement is
dependent to vibrant technical revolutions in various
fields, from wireless sensors to nanotechnology. The IoT
aims to unite our world into a mutual structure. That gives
us not only control but a stake of knowledge on the state of
the things around us [1].
II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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IoT is a technological insurgency that brings the
imminent of communication and computing, its
development depends generally on dynamic innovations of
technology in several fields. There are various usefulness
of IoT into our real live situation including education,
research, medicine, manufacturing, transport, etc.
Although there is abidance in the benefits of application of
IoT in our domain, there are drawbacks that have been
observed from IoT.
This research is meant to finger out and identify
some characteristics IoT, usefulness, drawbacks and
countermeasures of the drawbacks [2]. It will help both the
manufacturers of technology and the users to work in
harmony towards achieving a safe and reliable renaissance
to full technological era.
III. CHARACTERISTICS OF IOT COMPARED TO
THE TRADITIONAL NETWORK
Some characteristics that have resurfaced the products
inherently while using internet of things include:
A. Connectivity
SECURITY CHALLEGIES AND EMERGING NETWORKS
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Connectivity ensures that a network is accessible and
compatible. Accessibility refers to entering into a network
while compatibility provides the ability to produce and
also consume data [9]. Devises like light bulbs can now be
effectively connected to smartphones and enables them to
be switched on and off using an application.
B. Expressing
This refers to the interactivity between people and the
physical world. Whether it is a smart home or smart farm
with agricultural technology [4], Expressing ensures these
products are created in such a way that they intellectually
interact with the real world. In agriculture, a driverless
truck works accompanied by farmers to speed up
cultivation without chances of accidents. Expressing is
more than just providing beautiful user interface but real
world outputs and direct interacts with individuals and the
environment.
C. Intelligence
An intelligent Spark, provided by algorithms enhances
the smartness of products experience [6]. A fitness tracker
by the name Misfit Shine distributes computed task
between phones and the cloud but an intelligent thermostat
by the name Nest has more computing power provided by
their artificial intelligent that makes them smart.
D. Sensing
It is the ability to understand the physical world and
society around. This technology provides a means in
which we can create an experience that replicates
awareness of the physical environment and the persons
around it. It is simply an analogue input but can offer a
better understanding of the complex world [7].
A. Safety
As both providers and the users of IoT, safety must be
obeyed. From personal data security and care of the bodily
well-being[3]. In communication like use of email, a
security paradigm is created to secure the end points,
networks and the moving data across all communicating
devices.
IV. AREAS OF APPLICATIONS FOR IOT
Some applications of internet of things are:
A. Manufacturing
Manufacturing equipment’s has been embedded with
sensors and placed throughout a factory helps identify
issues in the process. By addressing the shortcomings in
the manufacturing process, time and waste is reduced [11].
Predictive maintenance whereby advanced sensing and
analytics to forecast exactly when machine will require
maintenance rather that doing the maintenance when the
machines breakdown. Since predictive maintenance
services the machines when they the machines when they
are required hence cutting the cost and the time spend by
machines when idle hence increasing their efficiency.
B. Energy
IoT enable organisations achieve significant decrease
in their energy usage. Intelligent algorithms embedded in
sensors monitors energy equipment’s with their
temperatures, lightings and energy usage and the data is
processed to manage activities in real time. Smart

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thermostats automatically turns off and on some devises
hence saving energy [10].
C. Agriculture
Internet of things has enhanced agriculture by use of
senses to sense soil moisture with respect to weather and
enabling a smart irrigation whereby crops are watered
when necessary. This reduces the water usage and
maximises production by monitoring and managing micro-
climatic conditions such as temperature, light and
humidity [7].
V. SECURITY ISSUES IN IOT
IoT devices function to make the life of the users
easier and simple. Since most of them usually
communicate from one device to another, data exchange
in the internet comes with security issues. Some of them
are:
A. Insufficient Authentication and Authorization
Mechanisms used to verify that IoT users of
devices are the true users tend to be ineffective whereby a
user can access to a higher level than allowed [8]. Lack of
password complexity may make it easy for one to
memorise someone’s password or even an intelligent agent
be able to grasp the password from user’s common
knowledge.
Poor protection of credentials may enable make it
possible for ones credentials to be captured from the
database by malicious individuals. In case of insecure
password recovery, it may lead to malicious attacker
resetting it and being able to login and use the devise.
Lack of Role based access control makes it possible to
access the information one is not meant to, that can lead to
leakage of information [10].
B. Insecure Cloud Interface
These concerns security issues that relate to cloud
interface that is used for interaction between IoT devices
and the cloud. Lack of authentication controls or even
poor controls and even unencrypted data formats that are
travelling are vulnerable to attackers who can access the
device or the data. Some vulnerabilities leading to this
issues include accounting enumeration whereby the fingers
in books of accounts are altered or even accounts being
locked by the attacker [3]. Credentials can also be exposed
to the network traffic hence bleaching the entire security
of the data and even the device.
C. Poor Physical Security
Weaknesses of physical security of a device can
happen when an attacker take to pieces a device so that he
can access the storage device and any information stored
in that device. Faults can also occur when external ports
are used to gain access to the device using features
proposed for maintenance and configurations which could
enable easy authorizations to access on data or even the
device [13]. Some vulnerability that can lead to this are
ability to access the software using USB Ports and taking
away the storage media from the device hence being able
to access the information from the media.
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VI. SECURITY THREAT MITIGATION
TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS
To mitigate security threats, several techniques and
tools are employed each purposed to counter take a
specific vulnerability. Below are some of them.
A. Use of Strong Passwords
To protect against insufficient authentication and
authorisation, measures are taken which includes: ensuring
provision of strong passwords making it impossible for one
to use easy and common terms that can be grasped from
his common knowledge [5].
Protection of credentials through either encryption is
essential as it makes it difficult for one to access them if
he manages to access the device. One can also secure
password recovery to ensure no one can reset password of
credentials that does not belong to him and also providing
configuration options for password controls. This ensures
one uses ones best password protection that is précises to
him.
B. Two Factor Authentication
Some measures are also taken to protect issues with
insecure cloud interfaces whereby default credentials are
changed during the first setup which makes sure than no
one can trace the credentials of the user [9]. Ensuring the
user accounts cannot be computed using functionalities
like password reset. Two Factor Authentication ensures
that the actual user logs into the system whereby some
utilities like locking out the account when the user’s
attempts to login fails for some number of times [14].
When it then cloud-based web interface is protected from
XSS, SQLi, it will be difficult to access the credentials in
the cloud thus unable to expose them to the cloud.
C. Encryptions
Vulnerabilities raised by poor physical security can be
counter measured by ensuring storage media of data is
encrypted and not easily removed. This makes it difficult
for one to access the data in the media. To mitigate the
security threats of IoT devices, it becomes every one task
to conduct a review of the device security and determine
the chances of vulnerability [12].
VII. CONCLUSION
IoT is gradually bringing technological
atmosphere which have made changes in our lives hence
making our lives more comfortable and simple. As the cost
of communications and sensors gradually goes down, it
becomes more cost effective to increase the number of
devices attached to internet of things. Rise in the number
of connection to the IoT, the living conditions and working
environment becomes more comfortable since it is filled
by smart devices. Another era of smart living will be
embraced.
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