Building an IoT-secure business
By: Yugasa Software Labs
Tags: Outsourcing Company India, Internet of Things, IoT, Cybersecurity

It was just recently that the European Union brought General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into effect. This can be seen as one of the many steps taken to ensure that the privacy of internet users is protected at all levels. One of the major concerns in digital technologies would be that of security. This is the same with Internet of Things(IoT) as well. It is predicted that the capital expenses on IoT security will increase by at least 28 % in the next year, i.e 2019. Almost every successful company that uses this fascinating technology has started to allocate separate budgets for IoT security itself.

IoT has been a integral part of many groundbreaking technology and devices that we have today such as the smart homes, smart energy grids, smart traffic, machinery, wearables, logistics, smart businesses, etc. With so many devices making use of IoT, it becomes essential that this technology uses the best in class security measures as well. Indeed the IoT Cybersecurity improvement Act of 2017 asks all vendors of IoT devices to ensure that they are free from any kind of vulnerabilities and also to provide security patches with every update they bring about.

This brings us to the point where we need to look at the three basic steps to boost IoT security in Business:

Security of IoT devices:

For IoT devices, it is essential to have live internet all the time when the applications are operating to ensure smooth functioning of the same. All industries must have a dedicated defensive plan incase of an attack. It is quite common that cyber criminals tend to hack into IoT devices as they are always connected to the internet. A company can protect itself by ensuring safety at various levels.

Security Standards of IoT:

Some of the vulnerable areas of IoT devices would be during the time when the data is in transit, the networking layer or the application layers. Securing these channels of communication is actually not as tough as it sounds. All we need to do is to ensure that the basics of cyber security is followed. That is, to ensure that we have strong passwords with non-repetitive terms, long words, special characters, etc. It is also necessary to prevent an IoT device from connecting to all open WiFis as it can pose a major threat to the privacy of the data being transferred. We can control this using end to end encryption, resolving bug issues, managing access, etc. While buying an IoT device, one must ensure that all security features are met from the company to ensure the user’s security.

Secure throughout the tenure of use:

The responsibility of IoT manufacturing companies do not end after they deliver the product. It actually starts then! One must have a robust and well organized plan for the long term use of the devices. A developer should ensure that the security is looked after from the manufacturing stage to the disposal stage.

A few things that can be done to ensure security are assessment of risk, regulatory policies and their periodic audit, regular monitoring of the activity, managing vendors,etc. It is also important to protect the device from cyber criminals, etc.

Summing it up:

As the use of Internet of Things is growing day by day, it becomes essential to make sure the devices that use this technology are protected against all possible odds. Whenever you are deciding to use IoT for your business, please make sure that you approach a good vendor who can meet all your needs with the best-in-class security.

Originally published at yugasa.com on November 16, 2018.