Page 36 - Cyber Warnings

Internet of Things Premier Security Issues: What you and I must

do

By Dr. Daniel Osafo. Harrison, D.C.S., Security+.

Internet of things (IoT) is the network of electronic objects you can touch, use, or experience.
Some of these objects are ipad, smart phones, smart buildings, appliances, and cars. These
objects are embedded with software, electronics, and sensors which enable these devices to
transmit, store, and exchange information over the internet.

Introduction

The proliferation of the internet coupled with technological advancement has led to new
innovative devices that enhance our daily activities at work, in the office, and on the go.
Generally speaking, these devices have contributed immensely to our productivity. For example,
wearable fitness devices function by counting our daily steps, heart beat rate, and calories
burned. Smart watches provide us with traffic updates, remind us of our plans on our daily to do
list, and we can make a quick phone call or get a weather update from this wrist watch, thanks
to Apple, Samsung and other leading technology companies.

As consumers, we are able to shop while driving, conduct a google search for whatever we are
looking for at any time, respond to emails and set up appointments online while driving. At
home, we are able to utilized the functions of our televisions for all sorts of entertainment
whether we are browsing Amazon Prime Time to watch movies, shopping on amazon while
enjoying a movie marathon with our families, responding to emails or checking out new flight
deals for a weekend get away with our significant other. All of these activities increase flexibility,
efficiency and productivity; however, these activities can also expose us to cyber-attacks
(Armurding, 2014). Are these devices secure enough to withstand cyber-attacks or not? Let’s
find out.

Internet of Things Device Vulnerabilities You Should Be Concern About
Before I dive deep, let me talk about what vulnerabilities are and how they happen. According to
the NIST SP 800-30 publication, vulnerability can be defined as weakness in security design,
and procedure. A vulnerability assessment is the analysis of all systems and networks to
discover weaknesses in the systems or networks, such as poor configuration or missing
patches. For example, vulnerabilities in software can come from bad security settings and
configuration from coding errors. Coding errors could include such issues as lack of input
validation, boundary conditions, and buffer overflows (Maras, 2015). As we all know, most of
these IoT devices are manufactured in China, South Korea and other countries with next to
nothing security controls built into them. Some of these manufacturers in foreign countries do
not invest capital in securing these smart devices and they may not include security in their
36 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine January 2017 Edition
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