The IoT security cheat sheet: What you need to know
By now, the endless stream of content focusing on the insecurity of IoT devices has become mind-numbing. The security industry has been ringing warning bells since smart devices first started penetrating the market years ago. However, recent activity caused by massive IoT-powered botnets, like Mirai, has finally brought the conversation to a boiling point, focusing on the horrors that a lack of IoT security could generate, from taking down the internet to extortion-by-DDoS attacks, and everything in between.
Despite what you might have heard from the IoT security doomsayers, it is possible to take advantage of these internet-connected tools and be secure at the same time. There’s quite a bit of chatter around the insecurity of IoT, yet businesses are still unaware of the actual steps they need to take to shore up defenses. Here are some real-world steps that you can take to ensure your organization stays secure as the IoT wave continues across industries.
It’s surprising and alarming to think about the number of organizations with poor or underdeveloped policies regarding IoT. Many are not even aware of the impact IoT devices have on their networks. But IoT is inescapable; if an organization thinks it’s immune, it’s wrong.
On the bright side, developing a policy doesn’t have to be that difficult. The first step can be to limit the IoT devices allowed on your networks to enterprise-specific vendors that take security seriously and offer service-level agreements for security patches. Further, simple steps like asset inventory and management, timely update cycles, changing default configurations and vendor security assessments can go a long way to help get a strong IoT policy off the ground. Read more…