4 Best Ways to Build Security in IoT Development
Tags: iotdevelopment, iotsolution
Published: 2020-10-28 08:08:16

An IoT product is only as secure as its architecture. It's a better way to make security an essential part of the development process instead of sustains technical debt, which makes the future modifies extremely hard.

The physical view of the IoT means that when security concerns arise the damages can be noticed in the real world. Besides potential breaches of privacy in individual lives, attacks on public infrastructure are feasible. Building security into the IoT needs a standard perspective on security.

An industry standard for developing security has emerged over the last 15 years, and it is called Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL). SDL offers a standard, repeatable process including security activities that boost the security of a product.

Authentication

A strong way to include security to IoT devices is by adding authentication characteristics. This can prevent harmful entities from hacking devices by assuring that the intended user and devices are acquiring data. There are two levels at which this requires to be done depending on the IoT device. Herewith the help of strong passwords End-user authentication is done.

For the public sector and B2B level devices, you require to build a special foundation and use certifications. With authentication, any entity striving to interact with a system must prove its identity earlier to obtaining any access.

IoT systems lead to end-user communication and machine-to-machine communication. Both need authentication. End-user authentication can utilize traditional username/password, certificate, or two-factor authentication.

Strong machine-to-machine authentication needs a public key infrastructure and certificates that are installed on each device within a system. Hence authentication is essential to upgrade the credentials if required, during the life of the product.

Encrypt all data

IoT devices generate huge amounts of data. Data requires moving securely via the issuing device, the internet, the cloud, and/or the receiving servers. To ignore a possible attack like this, handle network and cloud level security with the support of encryption technology.

With the help of open-source encryption technology, you can always do your own research to make assure that it works. This technology is also developed and checked by data security experts from around the world, making it a vigorous platform to secure your data.

Encryption takes data that your customers send and receive via your IoT system and runs it via a mathematical formula to disorganize it so that only those with a special key can unlock the data.

Enable secure IoT devices

At the starting phase of IoT, devices were created quickly and some developers forgot a standard feature: a method to upgrade the device after it reaches the field. It is important to offer a secure update mechanism.

A secure update mechanism is one that acquires a cryptographically signed update from the vendor and analyzes the significance of the update to assure that it is valid and truly from that vendor. The other aspect with IoT devices is that in most cases, there is no console or user to execute the update. Updates must be done over the air, with no interaction needed by the user.

When constructing IoT devices, the architecture itself requires reflecting the latest security measures. However, the problems that appear from a data breach are far more destructive.
As a tech leader, you need to focus more on security as a key feature from the very start. It’s essential to hire skilled security experts and investing in the precise infrastructure.

Control and Upgrade your open-source software

Open-source software is involved in everything these days and IoT devices are no discrete. IoT devices also depend on some of the same open-source software that web applications utilize, containing libraries likewise OpenSSL.

Open-source software goes from vulnerabilities at the same rate as custom-written code. The huge challenge with open source is that many developers involve it in projects and then experience with little bit issue when it comes to updating it. They depend upon the savings it creates without acknowledging that those savings upfront need work throughout the lifecycle in updating the libraries to a future version when concerns arise.

Create an open-source update plan for IoT projects and keep with it. Know what open-source components are contained within your product and allocate someone to watch for published vulnerabilities in those components. When vulnerability appears, upgrade the software, test the integration and then utilize an update to limit your customer’s risk.

The IoT requires built-in security

As the utilization of IoT devices is improving, the amount of data they contain also increases. Developers of IoT must adopt security as well as security user stories. They must interpret encryption and assure that it is used. They must track their open-source software and assure that it is correctly updated.

Even though adding security measures generates a longer product-to-market cycle and large expenses, the alternative — huge data violations- make these precautions well worth the effort. 

Tech leaders require viewing a mindset change and push to develop more security measures to protect both the data of their own business and that of the public.

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