Staying Secure in Sea of IoT
IoT privacy is one of the latest concerns in security. We’re making our lives easier with the invention of things like Alexa, and connected lightbulbs, TVs, and thermostats. But at what point do we stop and think about our privacy and security of our homes and workplaces?
A hack and the invasion of privacy can happen to anyone, anywhere. Just ask these folks.
In 2014, when IoT was still in early stages, home appliances were hacked and sent out spam!
Hackers broke into more than 100,000 home appliances including TVs, multimedia centers, routers, and at least one refrigerator and sent out more than 750,000 malicious emails. Talk about using your resources.
If that doesn’t convince you to take action on securing your devices, a year later – a hacker breaks into a couple’s connected baby monitor to deliver a creepy message.
And for those skeptical of organization infiltration, you are one of the largest targets. Recently, a Gartner report was released stating by 2020 more than 25% of healthcare attacks will involve IoT devices. And although Gartner specifically mentions Healthcare, that doesn’t mean all other organizations are exempt.
So what does this mean for your home and workplace? Start taking action now.
There are 4 easy steps we can take before losing our privacy, security and sanity to the unknown:
- Before deploying connected devices within your organization, pause and think about what kind of data is being collected and where it is going. For businesses that value their privacy, this can be a real liability. Think about it, does your toaster REALLY need to be connected to your network?
- Segment your network. If you do want IoT devices in your home or business, separate them from networks that contain sensitive information.
- Keep track of your inventory. There are platforms that can literally scan for EVERYTHING on your network – even IoT devices.
- Stop using Password123 as your password. If this isn’t the easiest thing you can change … I don’t know what is.
Recent Comments