Internet of Things - Features, Challenges, and Weaknesses - Research Paper Example

The main purpose of this paper, therefore, was to investigate the features, challenges, and weaknesses that will come about, as the IoT becomes reality with the connection of more and more physical objects. Specifically, the study sought to assess emergent challenges due to denial of service attacks, eavesdropping, and node capture in the IoT infrastructure. The research study first considered related work and studies and conducted a literature review about the topic under study. The methodology paradigm used was qualitative in nature with an exploratory research design, while data was collected using the desk research method.

It was found that, in the distributed form of architecture in IoT, attackers could hijack unsecured network devices, converting them into bots to attack third parties. Moreover, attackers could target communication channels and extract data from the information flow. The perceptual layer in distributed IoT architecture was also found to be vulnerable to node capture attacks, including physical capture, brute force attack, DDoS attacks, and node privacy leaks. Finally, attacks aimed at physically destroying, disabling, or stealing sensors at their location also poses a critical threat to IoT security.

Hersent et al (2011) describe the computing concept Internet of Things as a future where every day physical objects are connected by the internet in one form or the other, but outside the traditional desktop realm. To meet this challenge, it is expected that sensor network and RFID technologies will become increasingly integral to the human environment, in which communication and information systems will be invisibly embedded. Subsequently, massive volumes of data will need to be processed, stored, and presented in an easily interpretable, efficient, and seamless form.

Kortuem et al (2010) believe that context-aware computation via network resources and smart connectivity via existing networks will be critical elements of the Internet of Things.