As of late, the innovation of the internet of things (IoT) has taken over our business practices regarding data collection, analysis, and extrapolation and is helping us in everything from customer behavioral science to improvement of business efficacy and from cost reduction to increasing organizational safety.
As the sphere of associated devices keeps on expanding, it is becoming challenging for businesses to protect them from outside threats. Due to the young age of this innovation, IoT is loaded with weaknesses and offers a clear path of attack for security breaches.
Regardless of whether companies are simply beginning to include IoT collection in their routine or hoping to grow their IoT setup, all face comparable difficulties with regards to monitoring, controlling, and protecting the IoT network environment. Since IoT networks work with the internet, it is fairly important that the connectivity of the entire enterprise is protected. For this, the easiest way is to subscribe to an internet plan that is effective and secure. It is a common understanding that such commercial internet plans are oddly expensive, however, if you avail of commercial year-round promotional internet plans, you might be able to set aside some money for other purposes. To kickstart your research, we recommend Spectrum promotions that offer superfast internet speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, guaranteed network security, and many other commercial benefits.
After making sure that your internet network is protected, you must consider the following things as well.
1. Utilize Device Discovery for Complete Visibility
The principal task of a business is to make sure that all the connected IoT devices are visible on the network. Find which sorts of gadgets are associated with your organization and keep an updated and detailed inventory of all the IoT devices connected to the network. For this, all you need to do is note down the model and manufacturer ID, the serial number of the device, the version of firmware (hardware and software), and configuration protocols that are applied to the device. Furthermore, you need to evaluate the risk profile of all the devices and their behavior with respect to other devices connected to the network. These reports will help you in segmentation and the creation of a firewall policy. With each new IoT device that is added to the network, you should make sure to employ an updated asset map.
2. Employ Network Segmentation to increase Defense
Network segmentation has the key objective to condense attack surfaces. It divides one network into two subparts in order to empower granular control as compared to lateral traffic movement between workloads and devices. In the event that you have an unsegmented network, there are higher chances of the creation of contagion due to the spread of a comprising event. This opens up ways for hackers to penetrate your network and ultimately harming your business.
On the other hand, a segmented network makes it hard for cybercriminals to take control of a device. It is also recommended that businesses should include VLAN or virtual local area network configuration to improve network segmentation and to further keep all IoT devices separated. As such, all groups would be secured and the probability of lateral damage is decreased.
3. Embrace Secure Password Practices
One of the reasons for attacks on IoT devices is poor password management. In order to work this issue out, you need to maintain password security to protect IoT endpoints. Usually, IoT devices have a default password, which is quite weak and easily conceivable. Due to this, make sure to replace the default password with a rather strong and secure password as soon as you connect the IoT device to your network. Make sure that the new password that you use is not easily guessable, unique, and according to the password security policies of your IT security department.
4. Make Sure To Update Your Firmware
While most IT frameworks can fix security breaches through standard updates, IoT devices do not have this ability due to which their security issues keep on existing inconclusively. Furthermore, if an IoT device has a long shelf life; it is probable that the manufacturer will cut out technical support sooner or later.
On such an account, when you set up an IoT device, make sure to visit the website of the manufacturer and download whatever security patches are available to avoid network vulnerabilities.
5. Monitor your IoT Devices
In order to manage IoT threats, companies need to monitor, control, and report their effectiveness at all times. instead of going after some outdated security solution, businesses should implement a monitoring system that works in real-time and can analyze IoT behavior continuously.