Security Strategies for the Internet of Things: An Essay

This essay comprehensively examines the security landscape of the Internet of Things (IoT). It begins by defining IoT and its applications, providing examples like smart homes and healthcare devices. The essay then delves into the security challenges, including denial-of-service attacks, insecure web interfaces, firmware vulnerabilities, and the absence of robust identity and encryption key management. Several real-world incidents, such as car hacking and attacks on smart home devices, are presented to highlight the severity of these issues. The essay concludes by proposing security strategies like implementing wider security protocols, authentication mechanisms, encryption techniques, and the use of REST-based APIs to mitigate the identified risks and ensure the secure operation of IoT devices. The importance of proactive security measures is emphasized throughout the analysis.

Running head: INTERNET OF THINGS SECURITY
Internet of Things Security
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Introduction
IoT stands for Internet of Things and it refers to the developing technology for the
improvement of the operations and developing the implication of the advanced processes [4].
Internet of Things has been practically implemented in all spheres of operations. The implication
of the effective technology of Internet of Things would be helpful in integrating the functions of
the organizations and develop smart functioning. The Internet of Things devices and technology
uses IP address for establishing network connectivity and the connectivity results in establishing
the communication between the users. However, there are some security issues that have tended
to form the issue in forming the hindrance in the development of the operations of the
organization.
The following essay is developed for integrating the influence of the security factors and
their flaws for developing some strategies of the security of Internet of Things. The various
security functions might be helpful for integrating the flaws of the system development and
implement security strategies. The main body of the essay consists of three main findings from
the study and they are a brief overview of Internet of Things, security issues of Internet of
Things, and the security strategies of Internet of Things.
Study of Internet of Things Security
The study of Internet of Things has resulted in developing an understanding the benefit of
the implementation of the effective operations over the internet platform [1]. The Internet of
Things provides the scope for the development of the connected online smart devices for
utilizing rich data for the operations of the various organizations. The Internet of Things can be
defined in the easiest and simplest way as smart devices (for example, smart TV, Green smart

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homes, connected car GPS, smart energy meters, and healthcare devices) that can use the internet
cloud as the database for performing the activities. The smart devices of Internet of Things are
also termed as connected devices and it deploys the development of the improved functions for
the integration of the effective processing. These devices capture the integration of the effective
and improved processing. The analysis would be helpful for forming the deployment of the
activities on the daily basis and helps in faster completion of the activities. Some examples of
commonly used Internet of Things technology are given in the next paragraphs.
Figure 1: Internet of Things
(Source: [5])
Smart Home is the most commonly used Internet of Things technology and its
application that can be found in most parts of the world [6]. The Internet of Things technology
has made it possible for users to integrate some features to their home such as automatic air
conditioner operations, light switch on/off with the human presence/absence, or temporary

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access to the home for the friends. The smart home uses the connectivity of the main system
installed at home with the hand held devices for the users. The users can use the connectivity of
the Internet for operating the electronic devices of the home. It would help in saving time, cost,
and energy for the users.
Figure 2: IOT Smart Home
(Source: [10])
Internet of Things at healthcare is another major factor that has resulted in forming the
development of effective operations [12]. The integration of the functions would allow the use of
the effective management strategies and develop the effective and improved health care system.
The health care system would be benefited by the use of Internet of Things technology. The
concept of installing a well connected device for treating the patients would be helpful in

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developing the improved operations. The collected data would be helpful for forming the
development of the well endowed operation management. The research factor had shown the
development of the monitoring system with the help of Internet of Things technology. It has
eased the prospect of getting support in treatments of the patients by integrating the database and
allowing the doctors for accessing the data from required sources.
Figure 3: IOT in Healthcare
(Source: [8])
Other than these two technologies Internet of Things has brought about smart wearable
technologies, connected cars, industrial internet, smart cities traffic system, and retail smart
applications [5]. The concept had been practically implied for easing the operations of the
organizations and improving their activities for gaining advantage in terms of speed, accuracy,
and other value benefits.

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The Internet of Things gives the extension to the advancement of the associated online
smart gadgets for using rich information for the operations of the different associations [2]. The
smart gadgets of Internet of Things are additionally named as associated gadgets and it sends the
advancement of the enhanced capacities for the combination of the powerful preparation.
However, the Internet of Things technology has to face many issues and challenges due to the
flaws in the technology. The problems of Internet of Things are Denial of Service, Insecure Web
Interface, Insecure firmware due to weak CPU core power, and absence of identity management
or encryption key management.
Denial of Service is the major attack on the Internet of Things technology and it has
formed the influence on the functions of the operations [9]. The attackers use Denial of Service
attack for preventing the functioning of the device and technology. The attack targets the users
with this attack for resulting in the formation of the issues for the users. The legitimate users
would not be able to access the systems and its functions during the period of Denial of Service
attack. Insecure Web Interface is caused when the web based UI of the Internet of Things
devices becomes vulnerable for being attacked from outside. The external entities would harm
the development of the Internet of Things devices by using hacking methods for extracting the
information from the web interface of the Internet of Things devices. It is a serious concern as
the data security becomes vulnerable to be infiltrated from outside.
Insecure firmware due to weak CPU core power has been raised due to the advancement
of the technology and lack of prior knowledge [7]. The absence of the core power results in the
system being unable to adapt the innovative technology. There are various system devices that
can support only a limited amount of power for running the applications. However, the newer
versions of the security functions might need more power for running. The old system would not

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be able to adapt to the new requirements and hence, new functions would not be able to run. The
Internet of Things technology would face the issues and hence it would tend to face hindrance of
the operations of security.
Absence of identity management or encryption key management is a major factor that
causes the external infiltration of the Internet of Things possible [3]. The deployment of the
effective processing would be resulted due to the integration of the smart devices with the
Internet Cloud functions. The identity management is used as password or passcode protection
and in some advanced system biometric security functions. These securities would be implied for
protecting the devices from external infiltration and misuse of the data. The encryption would
protect the data from being misused. However, most of the Internet of Things devices use either
identity management or encryption key management. It has resulted in causing the security
issues in the Internet of Things cloud network.
Some major Internet of Things security flaws have been seen since the last few years and
it has brought panic and fear among the users around the world. The most hazardous fact of the
flaws in security of Internet of Things is that it impacts the users on a global scale as it is
connected to the main Internet cloud server [7]. According to the news of CNN on 24th July,
2015, there was a possibility of large amount of car hacking done using Internet of Things as
platform. The reporter reported that over 1.4 million cars have lax security and structure.
Another issue of Internet of Things security flaw occurred and was reported in the online article
on January 2015. The article pointed out that an attack on the online services which was hosted
in Bosnia took place that resulted in converting the smart homes of Internet of Things technology
into the Zombie horde and the attack was name Lizard Stressor. Another spamming action took

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place in Januaray 2014, which resulted in the wide scale hacking of the television sets and
refrigerator causing a toll of over 750,000 spams to be sent.
The various security points that can be implemented for dealing with the issues of
security for Internet of Things (denial of service, insecure web interface, and insecure firmware
due to weak CPU core power, and absence of identity management or encryption key
management) are wider range of security protocols, authentication, encryption, and use of REST
based APIs [8]. The various security protocols would be helpful for developing the smart
functions of the operations. The protection and security of the Internet of Things network
connection is implied by the use of the back end systems over the Internet. The network security
of Internet of Things is comparatively more challenging and hence it requires integrating the
development of the wider protocols, capabilities, and standards for protecting the complexity of
operations [10]. The policies and standards are set keeping in mind the development of the key
capabilities of the integration operations.
The security in Internet of Things technology can be implemented by the use of the
authorization. The Internet of Things authorization is used as password protection (paraphrase,
alphanumeric passwords, or passkey) or biometric security functions (finger print, retina scanner,
or face detection) [11]. These securities would be implied for protecting the devices from
external infiltration and misuse of the data. The encryption along with authorization would
protect the data from being misused from external infiltration. The security would help in
ensuring that no external infiltration would occur that could misuse the information for personal
gain. The encryption is a technique for making the data look absurd for any outsider who would
try to extract the data from the database. The encryption is developed by using DES, AES,
blowfish, two fish, and RSA. These are some of the encryption techniques that can be used for

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making the information protected from infiltration. The encryption is followed by decryption
technology and it the reverse process of encryption. The data that has been encrypted in
decrypted to get the original data and information. The REST based APIs are helpful for the
authentication and authorization of the Internet of Things technology [12]. The APIs security is
helpful for protecting the data integrity between the back end devices and edge devices.
Conclusion
The essay had been developed for integrating the influence of the security factors and
their flaws for developing some strategies of the security of Internet of Things. The study of
Internet of Things has resulted in developing an understanding the benefit of the implementation
of the effective operations over the internet platform. The Internet of Things had been defined as
smart devices such as smart TV, Green smart homes, connected car GPS, smart energy meters,
and healthcare devices that can use the internet cloud as the database for performing the
activities. However, the Internet of Things technology has to face many issues and challenges
due to the flaws in the technology. The security issues of Internet of Things are Denial of
Service, Insecure Web Interface, Insecure firmware due to weak CPU core power, and absence
of identity management or encryption key management. Hence, it was required for developing
some effective solutions to the various issues that had been mentioned in the report. The various
functions of security for Internet of Things technology and its smart devices were wider range of
security protocols, authentication, encryption, and use of REST based APIs. The study showed
that the security issues of Internet of Things were mitigated with the help of these security
functions. The Smart Home, Internet of Things at healthcare, smart wearable technologies,
connected cars, industrial internet, smart cities traffic system, and retail smart applications were
some of the technologies of Internet of Things that can be used predominantly.

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