Processing...
Δ
As of 2024, there are 15 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the world and this number is projected to double by 2030. The Internet of Things industry is growing rapidly spreading to different sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and many others. As a system of interconnected devices, IoT allows us to monitor devices and measure data remotely which can be a huge advantage for numerous businesses. Unfortunately, these devices aren’t as protected as many think. According to studies, 96% of business owners struggle to secure their IoT devices while almost 90% of respondents said their deviceshave been hacked. In this article, we’ll discuss the main IoT hardware security concerns and offer solutions to the ever-growing cybercrime.
IoT hardware comprises physical devices used in the IoT systems. From edge computing hardware and network connectivity tools to sensors, IoT hardware is designed to control and monitor devices and applications and transmit real-time data. IoT use cases have expanded from solely business and industrial and become a part of our lives in home automation and smart parking.
IoT sensors are devices for data collection and sharing. They aid businesses and individuals in bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds by allowing us to gather data from devices and transmit it to the cloud. IoT-powered sensors can be used in a large range of applications—for example, in smart homes, industrial automation, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. The parameters you can measure are also quite vast, including temperature, pressure, humidity, motion, light, and others.
Edge computing hardware allows users to process data locally without sending it to the IoT cloud first. Using this type of IoT device, you can eliminate latency issues and utilize real-time data without any delays. In addition to low latency, edge computing hardware also facilitates better cybersecurity as working with the cloud poses a larger threat than processing locally. Furthermore, this type of IoT hardware can also reduce the costs associated with the cloud and offer greater scalability.
Network connectivity hardware is used to transfer data from edge computing systems to the cloud. This type of IoT device includes networking tools like modems, routers, Wi-Fi access points, and others. Businesses rely on network connectivity hardware to gain access to the IoT system remotely and control devices tethered to it. These tools also provide a security layer to the ecosystem by using encryption keys and authentication protocols.
Communication protocols are designed to enable wireless IoT networks. Among the most popular solutions are ZigBee for short-range and LoRaWAN for long-range communication. Basically, these tools allow multiple IoT devices to communicate with each other and can be used to control smart devices. While ZigBee is mostly utilized in smart homes, LoRaWan caters to large-scale deployments like smart cities and industrial IoT use cases.
Connecting devices to the internet poses a large risk of cyber attacks, making them more vulnerable and susceptible to data breaches. Moreover, in an ecosystem of interconnected devices, if one gets penetrated, all devices become infiltrated. The consequences of cybercrime can be extremely devastating for the business and affect both employees and customers. Hackers can utilize sensitive data to gain access to funds or demand ransom. For this reason, the topic of IoT hardware security has become one of the largest trends in the industry.
There are numerous cybersecurity risks associated with IoT devices, from the software perspective to the business side. In this part, we’ll dissect the most common security threats that companies face when operating with IoT devices.
Unfortunately, IoT devices are vulnerable to a few cyber attacks, including ransomware, Rowhammer, and botnets. Let’s discuss how these types of attacks occur and affect your business and data.
Botnets are referred to as compromised devices that can infect other systems within one network. Unfortunately, IoT tools are vulnerable to attacks due to their lackluster hardware security in comparison with modern computers and their operating systems. IoT-powered devices mostly focus on functionality as opposed to processing power and storage making them the perfect target for malware.
Once an attacker manages to infiltrate a network with compromised devices, or botnets, they can execute various malicious actions like overflooding the system with traffic. Not only that, but botnets take away the processing power of your devices making them less effective for your business needs. Additionally, your compromised networks and IP addresses can then be used for nefarious goals, landing them on blacklists and potentially putting your business in legal trouble. You can minimize the usage of botnets against your system by bolstering your IoT hardware security, improving better password management, and proper network segmentation.
While traditional ransomware attacks are designed to extort money out of the victim, IoT hackers focus on the device’s functionality. Imagine an IoT device that monitors an industrial machine. Gaining access to it and shutting it off or altering its processes may have devastating consequences on the entire production. As a result, a company might lose money from production delays or downtimes.
A side-channel attack is a type of cyber attack that exploits data made available through hardware vulnerabilities rather than software. Cybercriminals can utilize various types of information to execute this attack, including timing, electromagnetic emissions, power consumption, and sound. For example, they can gain access to a building by implementing a power analysis to hack a smart lock. By measuring the power consumption patterns, they can conclude which code is correct without triggering the security system.
Continuing the usage of compromised devices may lead to a constant presence of third-party actors within your systems. These devices will become a permanently open back door for criminals to walk into and jeopardize the company’s and customers’ assets.
IoT devices undergo regular software and firmware updates to eliminate security vulnerabilities and expand their features. However, during remote updating, attackers can intercept the communication between the server and devices and gain access to the systems. Alternatively, they can also compromise the server itself and launch malicious updates. If successful, hackers can utilize the now-compromised IoT devices to access sensitive data or set additional attacks in motion.
Aside from malware, your IoT hardware security may be endangered due to business-related issues. In this part, we’ll talk about the difficult task of merging IT and IoT as well as the lack of visibility when it comes to IoT devices.
The convergence of IT and IoT brings about a number of concerns. While IT is focused on user protection and data security, IoT is more concerned with securing networks and devices. The lack of standardized IoT hardware security measures, as well as the different priorities, makes the intersection of both technologies difficult to execute safely.
Another pitfall of IoT security is the lack of visibility across networks and devices. For instance, the data is sent from an IoT device directly to the cloud bypassing traditional monitoring tools which makes the ecosystem vulnerable to malicious activities. Moreover, IoT gear operates with different protocols and networks, rendering traditional monitoring tools useless. Detecting potential threats without specialized IoT applications becomes extremely challenging.
Finally, let’s explore the risks associated with subpar cybersecurity measures in the organization and industry as a whole.
While some IoT devices have little to no authentication at all, a lot of them suffer from weak and unprotected passcodes. A weak password opens the door to a slew of security issues and invites hackers to penetrate your systems. Make sure you have robust password management in place, including two-factor authentication and stronger default passcodes.
Another commonplace risk associated with IoT devices is weak encryption when communicating sensitive data across networks. These vulnerabilities leave the door open to numerous attacks like man-in-the-middle or data theft. Either from lack of resources or poor prioritization, IoT manufacturers often fail to develop robust communication encryption protocols, making devices susceptible to cybercrime. Weak encryption can result in privacy breaches, unauthorized access, business disruptions, and many other concerns.
Firmware is the software that controls the basic functionality of a device helping it operate effectively. However, firmware tampering or reverse-engineering can pose a significant threat to the integrity of an IoT device. Insufficient protection or a subpar verification process can allow attackers to gain access to the device and even use it as the entry point to the entire network. Especially in large-scale manufacturing or healthcare settings, corrupted firmware can potentially affect business or even put people in danger.
Since IoT prioritizes functionality, the design tends to sacrifice stronger encryption. Despite the fact that these devices typically only store recent data, they do transmit information to the cloud. Potentially sensitive information can be hijacked or shared in the absence of robust data encryption protocols. For example, an attacker could tinker with important medical information leading to a devastating breach of data and even mistakes in diagnosis and treatment plans.
Some organizations may also lack a comprehensive inventory of their IoT devices across their network making forgotten devices vulnerable to attacks. These devices are also often not updated, and thus unpatched, which maximizes the chances for a successful breach. These weaknesses make your IoT ecosystem significantly more susceptible to cybercrime.
The main issue with hardware security lies in the fact that users have physical access to the device making it more difficult to prevent tampering. Unfortunately, many devices lack effective protection against side-channel attacks or are short of security chips meant to inhibit reverse engineering and data extraction. These vulnerabilities enable bad actors to compromise their devices and gain access to the entire IoT network. This can jeopardize your business, sabotage your goals, and even put employees and users in danger.
IoT is a relatively new technology that still requires regulations to ensure its utmost protection. There aren’t many universally accepted and industry-wide standards and rules that companies are forced to follow. As a result, businesses struggle to facilitate IoT hardware security, which can lead to data breaches and leaks.
Although there are quite a few risks associated with IoT hardware security, there are also countermeasures that can help you safeguard your data. In this section, we’ll discuss how to safeguard your IoT devices and ensure your data is protected.
In order to secure your system you can run Root of Trust (RoT), a boot process meant to ensure your device functions properly. The process will demonstrate whether the operating system was tampered with and help you protect yourself against malicious attacks. Another vital aspect of the RoT is the firmware validation that checks the integrity of the hardware to prevent unsolicited code injections.
Another IoT hardware security measure is data and memory encryption, a practice that involves encoding RAM data. Even if an attacker gains access to your files, they won’t be able to properly read them without an encryption key. Furthermore, consider the implementation of secure storage or Trusted Platform Modules to safeguard critical data such as encryption keys and passwords to keep them protected.
Aside from digital IoT hardware security solutions, there are also physical ones— for example, creating your device with the tamper resistance in mind. Cybercriminals often break into the actual device and remove some of its parts to access memory channels and compromise its functionality. Installing tamper pins allows you to be notified whenever someone is attempting to break into it. After that, you can reboot the device or execute a memory wipe to protect your data from hacking.
An IoT device becomes vulnerable once it goes into production and is connected to the cloud and other crucial systems. The only way to safeguard your devices post-production is by adopting a strong authentication mechanism. From tokens and codes to secure passwords, make sure your device demands authentication every time an owner wants to use it.
Secure Element (SE) chips are tamper-resistant hardware components that store sensitive data and execute cryptographic operations. These chips allow you to isolate security functions and offer a safer environment to prevent physical and digital attacks. SE chips are designed to facilitate secure boot process and firmware authentication as well as robust encryption operations, making your devices more secure and resilient against different cybersecurity threats.
Hardware security modules (HSM) are devices that offer a secure environment for cryptographic operations and key management. By centralizing the root of trust, streamlining the management of cryptographic keys, and executing secure operations, HSMs are designed to secure IoT systems at scale. They also facilitate secure communication protocols and are capable of handling numerous cryptographic operations at the same time enabling real-time security for IoT networks. All in all, HSMs aid businesses in adhering to regulatory requirements by standardizing key management and cryptographic operations.
Finally, firewalls are also an excellent tool to safeguard your data. You can further secure system devices by implementing software firewalls, hardware firewalls, or both. While hardware firewalls focus on protecting the entire network, software-based security is meant to defend individual devices. You can configure your firewalls to reject certain types of traffic and ensure the system is immune to malicious attacks.
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the tools you can rely on when bolstering the security of your IoT devices.
Cryptographic acceleration is a hardware-based security measure that performs cryptographic functions in your hardware. As a hardware feature, crypto acceleration is a component that can execute data encryption, decryption, and calculations significantly faster than its software-based counterparts. Such features allow you to guarantee robust security without sacrificing power and performance. Especially when you’re working with limited processing and battery power, this energy-efficient IoT hardware security solution is a great option.
True random number generators (TRNG) are essential components in IoT hardware security and provide genuine randomness for cryptographic functions. As opposed to traditional random number generators that still follow deterministic algorithms, TRNGs facilitate randomness through physical environments like thermal noise and quantum phenomena. As a result, you can generate truly unpredictable encryption and private keys, nonces, and initialization vectors making your system more secure.
Trust zones adhere to the principle of least privilege and separate processors into areas of varying permissions. They provide a protected execution environment for operations that require sensitive information discreetly isolated from the main operating system. These zones allow you to safely control data management, key management, secure boots, and cryptographic operations. By leveraging trust zones, you can prevent data breaches in your IoT device and secure system components.
Another prominent practice that can bolster your hardware security is running regular firmware and hardware penetration tests. This type of testing involves running various scenarios in an attempt to identify vulnerabilities in the system’s firmware and hardware. While hardware penetration tests are designed to tamper with the device and run side-channel analyses, firmware testing focuses on reverse engineering. Executing various scenarios allows engineers to uncover hidden issues and inefficiencies and fix them before the devices hit the market.
IoT architecture analysis is designed to investigate the entire ecosystem and reveal potential weaknesses that can be exploited. During the analysis, engineers examine the interactions between devices, gateways, networks, servers, users, and the cloud. The goal is to map out the data flow and uncover vulnerabilities. This holistic analysis can unlock potential weak spots that an individual component cannot. For example, you can identify that a single compromise in one part of the system leads to a wider breach throughout the system.
Using modern machine learning algorithms, companies can track device activities, network traffic, and the health of the device itself. Advanced monitoring tools can detect anomalies and identify unusual patterns and sudden changes allowing businesses to stay on top of their security. Aside from IoT devices, monitoring encompasses gateways, servers, and cloud services—basically anything that can jeopardize the integrity of your systems. You can also receive real-time alerts about the current state of your ecosystem and fix the emerging issues before they grow too big.
IoT security is an integral part of any business using IoT systems for their operations. Whether you want to automate business processes or enhance remote monitoring, IoT has a bright future ahead of it. If you’re interested in utilizing the technology or looking to secure sensitive data, reach out to our experts at NIX. We know how to develop IoT solutions that greatly perform on your hardware and ensure safe and seamless connectivity between the devices and the operating system. Get in touch with us to build a reliable and robust IoT solution that meets your needs and safeguards your data.
Be the first to get blog updates and NIX news!
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
Schedule Meeting
