# IoT Technologies during and Beyond COVID-19: A Comprehensive Review
## 6 Challenges for IoT
### Privacy, Polices, and Security Challenges  
With the increased use of IoT in the pandemic and anticipated growth post-COVID-19, privacy and security concerns need to be addressed in depth. Without assured security and privacy, the mass adaption of IoT solutions will be limited. Developers need to follow secure and privacy design principles to produce secure applications or frameworks. In addition, due care should be provided to protect personal data collected through IoT solutions. If there is a data breach, data controllers must pay fines under GDPR (4% of Annual Turnover or 20 million, whichever is the highest) or other emerging data protection laws across the globe. A study by [10] discusses the privacy and security effects of IoT features and the threats they are exposed to. Due to the growth rate in IoT applications, there is an increased risk of cyber-attacks, privacy, and security threats. Any security threat to important IoT technologies, such as Implantable Medical Device (IMD) or smart cars, can endanger lives or cause substantial economic losses. The study states that \"IoT device vendors typically do not update and patch their devices unless the user initiates firmware updates\" and \"most of the enterprises and users lack awareness of privacy and security\", suggesting that IoT devices are not up-to-date with security issues and may have many faults. The automation domain in IoT faces critical threats and challenges. The authors of [77] see that IoT is a concept to extend internet technologies to WSN, rather than a technology itself. The IoT system architecture and interworking is determined by scalability, security, simplicity, real time performance, and interoperability between devices. Threats are divided among the associated layers (Application layer, Data processing layer, Networking layer, Sensors and Actuators layer). Threats to the sensors and actuators layer can be tampering, which is a physical modification on the communication link or the device itself. The sensor can also be a threat to the network, as they can be a source for DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. In automation IoT, any effect on the network can be harmful, as real-time information is required. This article defines many attacks such as DoS and Man-in-the-middle attacks, such as eavesdropping, replay attacks, and routing attacks. Many of these attacks can be mitigated easily in other technologies but due to the limit of storage and computing power of lightweight devices, it is hard to implement firewalls and defense mechanisms. There is a need for lightweight, processing-friendly and cheap solutions. For the data processing layer, attacks such as back-door, social engineering, and password guessing could be threatening. To mitigate the risks of spreading and worsening of the pandemic, scanning methods are being used to diagnose the presence of the virus, whilst some countries are developing contact tracing apps. Google and Apple apps provide a decentralized software architecture, and save a log of the user contacts within the app, but are not uploaded to a central server [78]. The response of the government and the tech industry to the COVID-19 outbreak has already raised concerns about the implication of using contact tracing apps on privacy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of contact tracing apps cannot be studied in isolation, and the focus should also be on the impact of facial recognition cameras, wearable bands, and police surveillance drones. For instance, the Chinese authorities have been using street cameras with facial recognition system to apprehend, shame, and fine citizens venturing outside without face masks and have even used similar tools to identify and quarantine individuals who appeared to have been carrying the virus. South Korea has also employed a broad surveillance mechanism, and according to a report, the Seoul government has heavily relied on information collected from CCTV footage, bank card records, and mobile phone data to deal with the outbreak.