Internet of Things (IoT) Security

Running Head: INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) SECURITY
INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) SECURITY
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2INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) SECURITY
The research essay focuses on Internet of Things security. Internet of things can manage
huge number of devices that are interconnected in the network and provides the capability to
communicate and manage devices remotely through the internet. The application of Internet of
things is extending from operating rooms of hospitals to residential basements. The transfer of IT
networks from closed networks to enterprise networks to public internet is taking place at a fast
rate and therefore creating alarming IoT security issues (Farooq, Waseem, Khairi & Mazhar,
2015). Today people are increasingly being dependent upon intelligent and interconnected
devices in all aspects of life. Therefore, initiative should be taken in securing these devices and
complying them with regulatory requirements as they perform important functions that are
related with the life of people. Breaches in IoT security is becoming an alarming issue and
dominating news headlines lately (Mahmoud, Yousuf, Aloul, & Zualkernan, 2015). As a result,
government of every nation should make huge investment on IoT security technologies. The
following paragraphs will enlighten on the security challenges that are faced by Internet of
Things connected devices and suggest ways to address the security issues.
IoT devices attack sources:
Internet of Things promises to provide better safety and management to areas where the
technology is widely used. Additionally, it improves efficiency of energy along with optimizing
manufacturing processes. Despite of these benefits, security breaches leads to customer
dissatisfaction, violation of privacy and monetary losses (Tankard, 2015). The IoT security
breaches might happen due to attacks from internet bugs, eavesdropping, denial-of-service
attacks and ransom ware attacks. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for securing this
technology.

3INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) SECURITY
IoT security is the area of internet of things that is concerned with safeguarding network
and devices connected to the network. Connected devices are known as ‘things’ in the context of
internet of things that are uniquely identified by identifiers in the network. They have ability to
automatically transfer data in the network. Machine-to-machine communication in industries that
uses embedded sensors systems and computing devices have increased IoT communication
(Abomhara & Køien, 2015). Additionally, IoT communication prevails in vehicle-to-vehicle
communication, smart energy grids, building and home automation as well as in wearable
computing devices.
The concept of integrating devices and other objects into a network is new and as a result,
security has not been considered in product design. The IoT devices that are sold sometimes
consists of unpatched and old embedded software and systems (Riahi, Natalizio, Challal, Mitton
& Iera, 2014). Changing the default passwords of smart devices becomes difficult for the
purchasers. Even if they change, they fail to select strong passwords. Therefore, to increase
security, segmentation of an IoT device into its own network is needed and the network should
have restricted access. The network can then be monitored for detecting unusual traffic and
necessary actions can be taken.
IoT security issues and vulnerabilities:
Various organisation have adopted this emerging technology and facing security issues.
Hackers are exploiting these security issues and stealing personal information of users through
various means. According to recent news, they even targeted smart refrigerator to exploit user
data. Security experts have also revealed that IoT security issues arises with individual using
same login passwords for multiple websites. They use the same ID and password for their IoT
devices, which can be easily hacked (Hossain, Fotouhi, & Hasan, 2015). If the hackers get