Cyber Security in the Era of Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been one of the most frequently mentioned buzz-phrases in the digital world for years now. In its beginnings, the concept was predominantly associated with home appliances and devices connected to each other creating a so-called smart home environment, but it has evolved pretty quickly since, finding many applications in different commercial and institutional environments and projects around the globe.

Nowadays, IoT has an impact on critical infrastructures and various industrial ventures, bringing many economic benefits and making a lot of people’s jobs a lot easier. But, with this expansion into a realm where there is a lot more at stake, both in terms of safety and security and in terms of financial impact, the potential consequences in the event of any sort of failure within the system of interconnected devices have grown exponentially, highlighting the need for ensuring they are protected against all external and internal threats in the best way possible.

Security Risks Associated with Internet of Things

Since IoT systems consist of multiple devices that are connected to the Internet and to each other, they basically present a growing attack surface for threat actors, giving them access to entire networks by breaching just one of the connected devices that are part of those networks. As they increase the number of endpoints and potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cyber attackers, these ecosystems become yet another area of concern for cybersecurity professionals, who are already burdened with a growing volume of attacks and other security events they have to deal with.

IoT systems are now the foundation on which many important projects affecting millions of people are laid on, including smart cities, smart grids and supply chains, to name a few. This means that a breach into a system consisting of IoT devices can jeopardize the lives and well-being of a lot of people and do serious financial and reputation damage to utility companies, factories, power plants or telecommunications providers.

Protecting IoT Networks

Organizations that rely on IoT devices should adapt their security strategy and invest in solutions that are designed to protect multiple endpoints against cyber attacks while also enabling security teams to respond to breaches more effectively. The best strategy to tackle threats on IoT networks should include a comprehensive security operations platform and threat intelligence operations.

Threat intelligence is crucial for organizations that need to stay up to date with the evolving threat landscape and be aware of the emerging threats and new tactics and techniques used by attackers, as well as be informed of past incidents in order to organize and direct their resources accordingly. Information and data related to past attacks and activities of known threat actors, when processed and enriched for additional context by expert analysts, saves your security team valuable time and allows them to react and respond to attacks more quickly and more efficiently.

That, paired with a security operations platform that has the capability to track and monitor multiple endpoints and detect suspicious activity, alerting users and suggesting them the most effective actions for a specific incident based on past events, is the most effective solution for any organization that is struggling to cope with the growing threat of cyber attacks.

Interested to learn more about how you can improve your organization’s security strategy? Contact us at curious@quoscient.io to request a free consultation call, and we will help you assess your current system, locate the potential gaps and vulnerabilities in it and provide you with a road map on how you can adapt and prepare for future threats.