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Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming increasingly important in modern businesses. These tools help optimize customer experiences, collect data for business intelligence, and automate daily activities. IoT devices have transformed the way we work. And they are not about to disappear. Although IoT devices are handy for business operations, they can also be used maliciously to further the interests of cybercriminals.
Many businesses connect IoT devices to their infrastructure without fully understanding the security risk this poses. Without a good understanding of the security vulnerabilities of IoT devices, businesses do not fully appreciate the threats these devices can pose. So, what are the security risks involved when connecting IoT devices to networks, and what can businesses do to protect themselves?
Security Risks Posed By IoT Devices
Most IoT devices run on a minimal operating system, usually based on Linux. These devices are programmed to perform a single task, which means that an administrator cannot apply traditional protections (firewall or antivirus) to them. Additionally, these systems are not managed by identity and access management (IAM) software. Therefore, traditional role-based access control (RBAC) permissions are not recognized by these systems.
Unfortunately, the systems of this equipment are often modified, and a regular update of the system could alter its operation. They may not work as expected, the system software may not support the update, or the physical hardware may not have sufficient memory to keep the refresh. Businesses with IoT devices are, therefore, exposed to a significant security risk. Attackers can leverage IoT devices to orchestrate network attacks such as phishing, data theft, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. They can also use these devices to move laterally across company networks.
In DDoS attacks, threat actors exploit multiple computers connected online or use botnets to overwhelm a victim’s website with fake traffic. Lateral movement occurs when threat actors move across an organization’s network to cause maximum irreversible damage or exfiltrate data. The hacking, in March 2021, of the company Verkada, specializing in video and artificial intelligence, perfectly illustrates this lateral movement. Malicious actors broke into the network and gained access to more than 150,000 internet-connected security cameras for 36 hours.
The criminals moved laterally across the network to access videos and images from different companies, including Tesla, Nissan, the Madison County Jail in Huntsville, Alabama, and a hospital intensive care unit. The data was then leaked online, creating panic within companies. When sensitive sectors like healthcare are targeted, companies need to understand their legal situation. How can these violations compromise the legal security of a company?
The Legal Consequences Of A Security Breach In An IoT Device
Regular updates cannot be performed on IoT devices, so businesses face the difficult challenge of trying to apply uniform security policies to these unmanaged devices. Since this is only possible in some cases, they inherently become dependent on the vendor who developed the IoT devices to secure them.
It is assumed that hackers who damage IoT devices and devices are responsible for these attacks, which is not wrong. However, from a legal perspective, companies affected by infected IoT devices are also to blame. Indeed, companies had not planned the essential security controls to prevent an incident from occurring.
They must apply best practices to secure IoT devices and implement multiple controls, as internet-connected devices and machines cause many IoT-based incidents. Additionally, because network performance and security do not operate simultaneously, businesses must strive to find a balance. There is an obvious problem when it comes to IoT device security, but there is no point in securing networks if it hinders both connectivity and performance.
Secure IoT Devices Without Impacting Performance
Businesses need to address the specific challenges posed by IoT devices and deploy a solution that ensures strong security but, at the same time, does not impact performance. That’s where the Unified Secure Access Service Edge ( SASE ) solution comes in. By connecting security functions and multiple network management solutions into a single service delivered via the cloud, Unified SASE provides an efficient and compensating solution—the need for more security of IoT.
It helps tightly consolidate network performance and security while ensuring that all vulnerabilities are addressed without neglecting network failures. With Unified SASE, businesses can rest assured that all endpoints in an IoT network, regardless of size, have an equal amount of management capabilities and security coverage. Using sandboxing to analyze and isolate suspicious connections, Unified SASE assigns controls over data access.
This helps reduce latency and improve connection speeds. This solution can also be used to reduce the impact of an attack through network segmentation, i.e., creating barriers between areas of the network. If an IoT device is compromised, segmentation prevents attackers from moving laterally across the network, reducing the impact of attacks. While IoT devices offer multiple benefits to businesses, it should be essential for any business to ensure the smooth and safe operation of these machines.
From a legal perspective, these assets are challenging to manage. Still, businesses need to understand that IoT devices are only difficult to manage when security measures to protect them in the enterprise are nonexistent. IoT devices now punctuate our daily lives, and watching them means securing our privacy.
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