Do you need to secure your IoT devices against potential cyber threats? It is predicted that the total impact of IoT on the global economy will hit a staggering $11.1 trillion by 2025 and it emphasizes the growing importance of these devices.
Our post today offers the best strategies to bolster cybersecurity in your IoT ecosystem to help ensure that you stay protected from possible risks. Continue reading to discover how you can transform your device security from the risks to the virtually inexplicable.
The Importance of IoT Security
In the digital world, IoT security is of great importance and emerges as the main point of focus for businesses. The rapid growth of the IoT market underscores its relevance across the technological economy today.
But, the greater connectivity comes through the growing risks like DDoS or Distributed denial of service attacks using vulnerable IoT devices. Cyber threats prove detrimental to businesses and people, making strong security measures essential for every connected device.
Therefore, effective cybersecurity strategies should be woven into the fabric of our interconnected world to protect against the growing digital threats.
Steps to Enhance IoT Cybersecurity
To boost your IoT cybersecurity, today we are going to share a few strategies that should identify and know your network and connected devices, assess the IoT devices on the network, implement robust password policies, segregate your IoT devices on a separate network, customize default device settings, and more.
Identify and Know Your Network and Connected Devices
It is mainly beneficial when you are hiring third-party service providers. You should know about your network, its reach, and the devices connected for managed third party risk to strengthen IoT security. Every connected device comes with a huge access point for cybercriminals and third-party risks.
Securing the connections is important, with global spending on the IoT projected to reach nearly 177.9 billion in 2031. It is important to perform an inventory of every device that is linked to your network.
It will help show you the risks before they can get exploited by the hackers and plan effective defense strategies that include ISP-based tools and onsite protections against possible threats. The threats involve the DDoS attacks that are often used on at-risk IoT devices earlier.
Regular Assessment of the IoT Devices on Your Network
The regular assessment of the IoT devices on the network is a vital step to boost cybersecurity for the company. Insecure interfaces and the risks would often affect the device and data security, making monitoring and assessing every connected device important.
The lack of authentication, weak encryption, and other issues will leave your network open to these cyber attacks. The regular assessment of the IoT devices can help you identify the possible weaknesses or risks that should be addressed immediately.
Implementation of the digital certificates, stringent authentication process, and authorization protocols will help ensure secure communication between the devices and prevent any unauthorized access.
Implementing Strong Password Policies
Implementing strong password policies is the key step to boost IoT cybersecurity, especially while dealing with third or fourth-party vendors. A proper vendor risk assessment framework needs to secure access to all your valuable data.
It is essential to encourage users to create complex passwords, including letters, numbers, and special characters. You can also implement multi-factor authentication whenever possible, offering an additional layer of security.
You are notably reducing the chances of any unauthorized access and safeguarding your IoT devices from possible cyber threats with the enforcement of strong password policies and MFA.
Segregate Your IoT Devices on a Separate Network
It is vital to segregate your IoT devices on a separate network to boost the cybersecurity of your IoT devices. In doing so, you are creating an additional layer of protection to your primary network, preventing the attackers from attaining any unauthorized access to the sensitive data or compromising the other connected devices.
The segregation will also help to monitor and manage the security of your IoT devices effectively. The separate network is dedicated mainly to IoT devices, and you can implement security measures tailored to their unique risks and track any suspicious activity.
Customizing Default Device Settings
To boost the cybersecurity of your IoT devices, it is essential to customize the default device settings. IoT devices come with pre-set configurations that might not emphasize security. Customization of the default settings can reduce risks and protect the network from possible cyber attacks.
As a part of cyber threat intelligence, changing the default passwords is the key step to boost security since the default passwords are often easily guessed by hackers. Furthermore, disabling any unrequited features or connections can help in reducing the attacks that surface for the cybercriminals.
Customized settings ensure that your IoT devices are safeguarded against possible threats and help maintain your network’s integrity.
Employ Firewalls and IoT Security Solutions
Implementation of firewalls and IoT security solutions is a vital step to boosting the cybersecurity of your IoT devices. Firewalls act as the protective barrier that filters the network traffic to prevent unauthorized access and possible cyber attacks.
They play a key role in helping protect your connected devices by controlling and monitoring the incoming and outgoing data, especially when you use the services of a third or fourth party. Furthermore, the IoT security solutions with third and fourth party risk management offer an additional layer of protection that includes intrusion detection and prevention systems fortifying your network against possible threats.
These security measures can help reduce the risk of any unauthorized access and safeguard your valuable data from falling into the wrong hands. The rapid growth of the Internet of Things ensures robust protection for the IoT devices that have become highly essential.
Using Strong Encryption and Secure Networks
It is important to use strong encryption and secure networks to boost the cybersecurity of your IoT devices. Encryption plays a key role in safeguarding the confidentiality and privacy of your data in IoT applications.
The data encryption gets transmitted between the devices to help ensure that if they get intercepted by the cybercriminals the information becomes unreadable.
Along with the encryption, it is important to have secure networks in order for your IoT devices. It indicates that the implementation of measures like using private Wi-Fi networks instead of public ones, along with regular updates of the router settings and passwords, offers added protection.
Disconnect Devices When Not in Use
To boost the cybersecurity of your IoT devices, it is important to disconnect them whenever they are not in use. It is the easiest step that notably reduces the risk of cyberattacks and unauthorized access to your network.
Several IoT devices will stay connected to the Internet whenever they are not used actively, making them vulnerable to potential hackers or malware. Disconnecting these devices will help reduce their exposure and safeguard against the potential threats.
Ensuring the Physical Security of Devices
To enhance the cybersecurity of IoT devices, it is essential also to consider the physical security of these devices. Physical security measures can help protect against potential threats and attacks.
Securing access to the physical location where the IoT devices are present can prevent any unauthorized people from gaining physical access and tampering with the device. Additionally, the implementation of surveillance systems and limiting access to authorized personnel boost the entire device security.
It is vital to keep in mind that while cybersecurity aims at digital protection, physical security plays a key role in helping protect IoT devices and prevent possible compromises or breaches.
Conclusion
The Internet of Things is becoming an important part of the manner in which we are performing business throughout the industry. Device, network, and data security are important. Consider the strategies we have discussed above to effectively minimize your risk and help ensure the value of the IoT is never overshadowed by costly intrusion.
Author Bio:
Nagaraj Kuppuswamy is the Co-founder and CEO of Beaconer, an esteemed enterprise specializing in managed third-party risk using the cloud-native AI-based solution. With an extensive portfolio of accolades and industry certifications, Nagaraj stands out as a seasoned expert, boasting over 16 years of dedicated involvement in the field of Cybersecurity. Throughout their career, he has predominantly focused on elevating the realm of third-party risk assessment. You can connect with him through Linkedin.
