Telecom

Telecom

The Internet of Things (IoT) brings tremendous new capabilities to the net — but it also brings many new security issues. Watch the following video on securing the Internet of Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ6xoAtdF3o

Discuss the challenges of securing the IoT. Then, list five or more best practices you would recommend.

Make sure you respond to at least two other learners.

Response#1(Leburu)

Internet of Things (IoT):

The digital space has undergone major changes over the past two years and will continue to evolve, according to industry experts. The last entry in digital space is the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT can also be defined as an interaction between the software, telecommunications and electronic devices industries and promises to offer enormous opportunities for many sectors. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), powered by sensors that will soon be available for billions of dollars, that will work with billions of intelligent systems and cover millions of applications, the Internet of Things will ignite a spark. Launch new consumer and business behaviors requiring increasingly intelligent industrial solutions, which in turn create billions of dollars of opportunities for the IT industry and even more for companies that benefit from the Internet of Things. (Shackelford, S. 2020).

The Internet of Things has three distinct parts: Sensors that collect data (including sensor / device identifier and address), Decision-making and data transfer to decision servers, An application that collects and analyzes this data for greater integration.

Big data analytics and mechanisms can be used to make decisions. Several countries, such as the United States, South Korea and China, have taken the will to exploit the Internet. The main players in IoT initiatives are citizens, governments, and industry. Participation and cooperation of all interested parties at an appropriate time. At this point, we require instructions to link and select key areas, then emphasize the answers to the accumulation, The Internet of Things needs to have a clear strategy and follow a simple goal with the Value-Added and Reduce-cost models. With industry associations, experience in global forums, knowledge of other major IoT countries, and the active participation of global partners, we can promote an approach. More creative based on innovation. The key to the success of the Internet lies in the development of open platforms for scalable, easy-to-use and inexpensive models and citizens, such as sensors. Data should be clearly collected and shared between functions to maximize benefits.

Lack Of Compliance On The Part Of IoT Manufacturers:

New IoT devices come out almost daily, all with undiscovered vulnerabilities. The primary source of most IoT security issues is that manufacturers do not spend enough time and resources on security.

For example, most fitness trackers with Bluetooth remain visible after the first pairing, a smart refrigerator can expose Gmail login credentials, and a smart fingerprint padlock can be accessed with a Bluetooth key that has the same MAC address as the padlock device.

Lack Of User Knowledge & Awareness :

Over the years, Internet users have learnt how to avoid spam or phishing emails, perform virus scans on their PCs, and secure their WiFi networks with strong passwords. But IoT is a new technology, and people still do not know much about it. While most of the risks of IoT security issues are still on the manufacturing side, users and businesses processes can create bigger threats. One of the biggest IoT security risks and challenges is the user’s ignorance and lack of awareness of the IoT functionality. As a result, everybody is put at risk.

Transportation; intelligent systems of transportation are today moving people and goods from one place to another. Lots of IoT sensors are used on planes, trains, ships and vehicles with the main goal of optimizing performance of engines, safety as well as managing the supply chain. IoT in smart cars helps drivers prevent accidents from occurring as they can predict situations as well as maintaining the issues. One of the most important benefits of the Internet of Things is the ease of participation to the individual or an organization that uses the IoT. By far one of the greatest benefits of IoT is the people can now take full control over their lives and can make some great improvements in their everyday lives.

Reponse#2(Srikanth)

The term Internet of things (IoT)was first coined by Kevin Ashton, an executive director of the Auto-ID in massachute institute of Technology. It refers to a network of physical objects, places and environments which use sensors as well as APIs to connect and exchange data over the internet. A good example of an IOT object is a thermostat which is a home appliance that can be used in determining when an individual occupy various rooms and causing alteration of the levels of heating, lighting and other house functions. (Alam, S. 2020, February).

Some of the characteristics of IoT include: intelligence; the internet of things has a combination of algorithms and computations, software and hardware which makes it very smart. Presence of ambient intelligence in IoTincreases its capabilities thus facilitating intelligent response of things to situations as well as supporting them in doing specific tasks. IoTisalso dynamic in nature. The main activity of IoT is collecting data from its environment and this can be achieved with the changes taking place around the device. Sensing is another key characteristic of IoT. According to3, sensors are the ones that make IoT possible as they have the ability of detecting or measuring any changes that occur in the environment so as to generate data that can report on their status.Sensing devices include sport sensors, environment sensors like a thermostat and physical health sensors.

Three areas of applications for IoT:

IoT continues to have a significant impact on many industries as well as businesses. The three areas of application for IoT include; Manufacturing; production of goods in the manufacturing industry has been transformed by IoTsince manufacturers use the industrial internet of things (IIoT)as well as Machine to Machine (M2M) communications to drive automation in the industry5. Prediction and prevention of equipment failures has also been made possible by IoT and this has helped in improving the safety of workers as well as enhancing efficiency in production of goods

Healthcare; the system of connected healthcare and smart medical devices have a great potential both in companies and for the well-being of human beings.IoT is used in healthcare with an aim of empowering human beings to live lives that are health through wearing connected devices. Some of the common IoT applications in healthcare include telemonitoring and remote monitoring.6projects that between 2017 and 2022, IoT healthcare applications will accelerate as it is an important element in the digital transformation in the healthcare industry. Studies have also shown that countries like the US are leading in the use of healthcare IoT.7in their studies also pointed that 30 percent of healthcare organizations are already using IoT for data that is sensitive.

Analyse critically, three current or future security issues in IoT and its countermeasures:

Just as4pointed out, IoT devices have a high vulnerability to security threats. Some of the security issues in IOT include;

Insecure web interface; the web interfaces that are built onto IOT devices allow interactions between the user and the device but at the same time can also allow an attacker to get access to the device and make changes that may cause negatively affect data. According to8such security vulnerabilities are caused by Account enumeration, weak default credential, weak account lockout settings and injection of SQL to the device.

Insufficient authentication; this involves presence of ineffective mechanisms for authentication of the IOT user interface as well as poor mechanisms for authorization. Such threats are caused by lack of two factor authentications, lack of password complexity as well as insecure password recovery which can easily make an attacker gain access to important information and altering it.

Privacy concerns; lack of privacy in IOT is usually caused by collecting personal data that is unnecessary as well as insufficient protection of that data. Some of the measures suggested by9 for dealing with privacy issues include; collecting data that is only crucial to the functionality of the device, ensuring that the IOT device and its components are protect provide proper protection to personal information.