Page 77 - Cyber Defense eMagazine January 2023

Has Adoption of ‘Connected Devices’ Outpaced Security?

By Scott Register, Vice President, Security Solutions, Keysight Technologies

We’ve all seen the rush to deploy the new wave of connected devices but the speed at which these
devices have been embraced may threaten fundamental security protocols. We love the convenience
that ubiquitous connectivity brings us; our cars can reroute us based on traffic jams, we can adjust our
lights or AC without leaving the couch, we can get up-to-the-minute blood glucose readings, and we can
precisely monitor energy flow across a smart grid and optimize manufacturing with smart factory floors.
Aided by technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy, WiFi, and 5G, the pace of Internet of Things (IoT)
deployment continues to accelerate. However, in a recent Forrester report, 69% of surveyed respondents
estimate that at least half of all devices on their enterprise network or IoT are unmanaged, and 26%
estimate that unmanaged devices outnumber managed devices on their network by three to one.

Well, as with any new technology, there are going to be drawbacks. Among the most significant: our
ability to build and deploy intelligent, connected devices has outpaced our understanding and practices
of how to secure them. We’ve seen large botnets take over farms of IoT devices and shut down large
chunks of the Internet, a recent escalation in healthcare organizations hit by ransomware attacks
impacting connected medical devices, and privacy breaches impacting everything from baby monitors to
smart watches.

Lessons for ‘Connected Device’ Security—Think Like an Attacker

IoT devices really are special. For traditional IT devices, like Linux servers and Windows laptops, we
have established best practices for security. It isn’t perfect, but in reality, if we keep the operating system
and any endpoint security software up to date, we’ll eliminate the majority of system vulnerabilities. In
fact, an analysis earlier in 2022 showed that flaws from 2017 and 2018 were still among the most
commonly exploited today; a simple and free OS update would have blocked them. IoT devices, however,

Cyber Defense eMagazine – January 2023 Edition 77
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