Security is a Growing Concern for the Internet of Things

The ubiquity and convenience of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized a wide array of industries, making products and services more powerful for businesses and consumers alike. IoT’s wide distribution and relative newness in terms of use and security has opened this powerful new technology to damaging and costly malware. In recent news, the Denial of Service (DoS) attack has become infamous for overloading servers with a massive stream of data. IoT-connected devices are growing rapidly in number and a large majority of them aren’t properly secured. Troublemakers have noticed this opening and are exploiting IoT for DDoS attacks, Distributed Denial of Service attacks, that harness unknowing consumers’ devices to do the dirty work for them.
The piece of malware being blamed for recent service outages is known as “Mirai” and has been shown to be a low-quality, unfinished piece of software.^[1] With a dictionary of common device passwords bundled in the code, the program can cast a wide net and capture potentially limitless numbers of devices that can then be used to pour data into a targeted source. Both the high number of IoT devices and low security barriers make it a prime candidate as an ignorant collaborator. The growth in tracking and convenience services in industries like trucking, automotive manufacturing, and personal devices like tablets have opened new vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit.^[2] From tracking user locations without their knowledge to stealing valuable information like credit card and social security numbers, users are waking up to the need for security in IoT. Even worse, medical devices like insulin pumps are hackable, with potential for real-life health consequences.
Users in all industries should change the passwords of as many devices connected to IoT as possible to avoid being easy prey for password dictionaries like Mirai’s. Establish firewalls for devices as well, and keep up with updates. A single system vulnerability can endanger many devices connected to it. As IoT grows more and more popular, so should user awareness of the risks and dangers of insecure devices.