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IoT Attacks

How to protect against, or recover from, ransomware

What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?

Internet of Things is an umbrella term for all the various devices connected to internet such as fitness trackers, smart refrigerators, headphones, cameras, cars, traffic lights, airplane engines as well as home security systems. As access to  Internet services increases and processors become more affordable, more and more gadgets with Wi-Fi functionality are being created.

Currently, there are billions of IoT devices in existence.

This network of devices produces considerable benefits and convenience for users, but IoT devices are also subject to attackers as well as used to carry out cyber attacks. As with internet-connected computers, these devices are perfectly safe to use, but precautions should be taken to ensure they aren’t compromised.

A New Risk

How IoT devices be used in cyber attacks

The firmware that is in most IoT devices are not protected to the same extent as modern operating systems in most computers and smartphones. Most commonly, these devices run on firmware that cannot be patched. In turn, IoT devices are seen as easy targets by attackers. 

Malicious parties commonly use unsecured IoT devices to generate network traffic in a distrubuted denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. DDoS attacks are more powerful when the attacking parties can send traffic to their target from a wide range of devices. Due to the fact that each device has its own IP address, these attacks are harder to block. One of the biggest DDoS botnets on record, the Mirai botnet, is largely made up of IoT devices.

What are the security issues in the IoT?

Threats and risks

Due to the expanded attack surface of threats that have already been plaguing networks, IoT security is critical. Lack of awareness and, thus, insecure practices among users and organizations is only making the threat larger. Organisations may not have the resources or the knowledge to best protect their IoT ecosystems but the need is fast becoming critical.

These security issues include Vulnerabilities, Malware, Escalated cyberattacks, Information theft and unknown exposure and Device mismanagement and misconfiguration.

Emerging issues

The lack of industry foresight gave little time to develop strategies and defenses against familiar threats in growing IoT ecosystems. Anticipating emerging issues is one of the reasons research on IoT security must be done continuously.  Some of the emerging issues that need to be monitored include:

  • Complex environments. In 2020, most U.S. households had access to an average of 10 connected devices.
  • Prevalence of remote work arrangements. The Covid-19 pandemic brought about large-scale work-from-home (WFH) arrangements for organisations around the globe and pushed heavier reliance on home networks.
  • 5G connectivity. The transition to 5G is a development that will enable other technologies to evolve. At present, much of the research on 5G remains largely focused on how it will affect enterprises and how they can implement it securely.
0
bil.
breaches between Jan and Jun 2021
0
mins
Avg. time between connecting to the internet and being attacked
0
%
of IoT Traffic Isn’t Encrypted

What to Look For

IoT security challenges

Developing a thorough understanding of IoT cybersecurity issues and executing a strategy to mitigate the related risks will help protect your business and build confidence in digital transformation processes. Common challenges faced include:

  • Weak password protection
  • Lack of regular patches and updates and weak update mechanism
  • Insecure interfaces
  • Poor IoT device management
  • The IoT skills gap
  • Insufficient data protection

ACTION PLAN

Our advice and recommendations

There is no instant fix that can answer the security issues and threats laid out above. Specific strategies and tools may be necessary for properly securing more specialized systems and aspects of the IoT. However, users can apply a few best practices to reduce risks and prevent threats:

  • Regularly check for patches and updates
  • Assign an administrator of things
  • Prioritize Wi-Fi security and monitor baseline network and device behavior
  • Secure the network and use it to strengthen security
  • Use strong and unique passwords for all accounts
  • Take into consideration the different protocols used by IoT devices
  • Secure IoT-cloud convergence and apply cloud-based solutions

The latest on Ransomware

Gridware is proud to be a thought-leader in cybersecurity, creating and leading conversations in this space. Check out a selection of our published work from our Sydney based Cyber Defence Centre (CDC), and learn how our cyber expertise has led to partnerships with leading Australian Universities.

How Gridware can help

Security Assessments

As a provider of CREST-approved penetration testing as well as vulnerability assessment, social engineering and red teaming services, Redscan’s ethical hacking team has extensive experience of assessing organisations’ technology, personnel and processes against the latest attack techniques and helping organisations to address them.

Proactive Monitoring

Firewalls and antivirus software are unable to comprehensively defend against the latest types of memory-resident and polymorphic malware.

Our certified security professionals employ cutting-edge threat intelligence to hunt for malware and other cyber threats and help quickly shut them down.

Training & Awareness

Your users are your last line of defense. Educate them about the latest email threats, and ensure they understand their fraudulent nature and know how to report them to your security teams. Barracuda security awareness training and phishing simulation provides all necessary tools to train your users to recognize and report phishing emails, which will prevent email fraud and data loss.

Protect your data

If ransomware does take control of your data, there’s no need to pay a ransom or go through a difficult and tedious recovery process — if you have a strong, modern, easy-to-use backup solution. We offer superior backup solutions — on-premises or in the cloud — that make it simple and fast to restore an up-to-date copy of any file, whether you’re restoring an entire server or specifically selecting files to restore.

Get in touch today

Our team is ready to answer your queries. Contact us now.

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