Ah yes, IoT security. This is a major topic that’s becoming more common, and some people don’t even know what it means. The internet of things is simply the internet as a whole, all synchronized into your numerous devices that are all connected to create a lovely little cloud of your own – and this includes the cloud they’re attached to. From everything to filesharing, all the way down to receiving emails and text messages via email and phone (or tablet as many businesses use), our laptops and the internet-connected world is no longer safe, especially when it comes to business.
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Does This Mean You Shouldn’t Have IoT in Place?
IoT is only gaining popularity making it more susceptible to attacks. That’s why we stress the importance of IoT security to keep you and your devices safe.
Absolutely not. In today’s society, it’s important to have as much synchronization. This allows for multitasking and other integral qualities in your business that have helped it stay up with the times and improve its efficiency. There are, however, some risks that you need to consider, and one of them is to have some IoT security in place. This can come in many forms – firewalls, password management, employee monitoring, and more.
How Can IoT Hurt My Business?
If you don’t have IoT security in place, you leave yourself wide open for an attack. Our rule of thumb is that if it connects to the internet, it needs to be secure. If you’re using IoT devices, then you need to invest in IoT security.
The main way that the IoT that allows for this kind of flexibility and productivity can hurt you is because it leaves you more vulnerable to getting attacked. Hackers aren’t just leaning on one type of malware these days, and yes, even Apple’s wonderful iOS has been breached numerous times with ransomware. This means that no matter what kind of devices you have connected to your company’s network – everything can pose a major threat, and even the most minor threat can be considered a major mishap.
The largest things that you put at risk when it comes to using IoT in your business are:
The risk of getting sensitive and pertinent data stolen because other devices have access.
Someone completely sabotaging your systems to behave the way they want them to. Even a coffee maker can be hacked with malware. This means that software on your systems can also allow for other problems to be installed.
Some hackers utilize botnets to infect your entire network, and then they can perform a denial of service attack, DDoS attack, on your entire company. While it normally doesn’t last very long, this can cause your company and your customers to lose access to the things they need to connect to. This is often happening to keep you and others out – but allow the attackers in while you’re working on trying and fixing the hack.
Who Gets Attacked the Most when it comes to IoT?
The chart above shows the most popular IoT device vulnerabilities that users need to prepare for by enacting proper IoT security measures.
Believe it or not, most small business owners have the greatest IoT security risks. The reason why is because it’s easier to steal from the little guys to get information and phish it from the smaller companies. Often, this is simply because they don’t have all of the IoT security in place. This can be completely avoidable, though, and even though they aren’t a full-fledged corporation or government entity, they can still get the same kind of security to keep their systems locked as tight as the Pentagon itself!
Conclusion: How Can I Increase IoT Security?
First off, you can monitor your network and make sure that all firewalls are enabled. We can’t stress this enough. However, your network security isn’t the only thing that will keep your systems safe. You also want to ensure that everything has a solid password associated with it for your business. And it would help if you kept everything up to date. This can sometimes be hard when it comes to having the time to make sure that everything is going as smoothly and securely as it should – that’s when the right team of IT individuals can come in as true professionals to bump up your security.