Internet of Things as an Emerging Technology - Essay Example

Abstract

Internet of things also known as IoT is an emerging trend of technology today. It’s high in use today as its applications are found from schools, hospitals, governments' houses and cars. Its applications are seemingly limitless and its demand is high. However, like every good thing in technology it has, its own cons. In this article, we would look at some of the problems facing IoT and what could be the possible and workable solutions that can be used to mitigate the problems facing IoT. The problems of Internet wall-like barriers in countries, the problem of cloud security, the problem of AI on IoT, the problem of multi-vendor environments on IoT, the problem of communication security with IoT devices, the problem of insecure networks with IoT, the lack of use of security analytics on IoT, the problems of lack of confidence on IoT and understanding will be discussed in this article.

These problems of IoT that are discussed in this article are of significance to us because only through such problems can we look and identify the working solutions that can solve the problems that have affected IoT in general and find an effective application in today’s challenges.

IoT AS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

One problem with IoT is the failure in the achievement of the global IoT, this is caused by the increasing number of cross-border cyber attacks from foreign governments. Therefore, some countries are opting to break up the internet to only national levels instead of the world wide web. This will hinder the development of IoT to a global level. despite this approach by some governments, instead of governments breaking up the internet to only specific localities, there are more effective ways to solve problems related to cross-border cyber-attacks. In simple terms it is better that the countries beef up their internet security in general. This will make it easier for the integration of IoT to a global level. Also, to have a more secure global IoT, global policies will have to be formulated so that governments that are found responsible for orchestrating and funding cyber attacks on other nations to be held accountable. The accountability of nations on cybercrime will enable a global IoT.

Multi-vendor environments are a problem facing IoT. This has happened due to the high demand for IoT devices by companies causing vendors to capitalize on the product demand. This has caused many businesses to have incorporated IoT devices into their network. This makes it hard for IT professionals to track the attacks and secure each device. To solve this, it is strategic if a company would use IoT devices only from particular vendors whose device security is proven. Also, effective training to IT individuals on the proper use of IoT devices in securing the devices would help reduce the security risks involved.

Most IoT devices are dependent upon cloud platforms for data storage. Therefore, cloud security has become a major threat facing IoT. Cloud service providers would become the next target by cybercrime. Analysis by the World Economic Forum on attacks towards these cloud platforms would cause a substantial amount of loss in billions, and given that cloud, cybersecurity is still under-resourced, a solution is needed. Therefore, to solve the threat of IoT through cloud insecurity, data kept in the cloud would have to be encrypted. This would help to restrict the data of an organization without authorization. Another step for improving security over the data in the cloud is monitoring the cloud environment, this is done by paying attention to cloud activities and access logs in order to raise a red flag on anything out of the ordinary (Heins, 2019).

The use of AI could create a security issue for IoT. Malware developed by AI would become a threat to cloud vendors whose cloud services are relied upon by businesses, the government, critical infrastructures, and healthcare organizations. This would make them vulnerable to ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals could make malware created by AI using automated vulnerability detection and data analysis. The cybercriminals have been able to use automated scripted techniques to increase the speed of their cyber attacks. These cybercriminals have even used AI to map network vulnerabilities and use penetration testing for their attacks. They have also created malware code that can evade system detection. To solve this, it would be important for cybersecurity professionals to know of the recent cybercriminal strategies of using AI to attack IoT and therefore they would also have to use AI in their security strategies if they are to secure IoT.

Botnet attacks are a problem facing IoT. consumer IoT devices face a security challenge known as Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attacks. These attacks employ poorly protected consumer devices that normally have weaker security, the security weaknesses are hard corded passwords and commonly known passwords that are less secure compared to regular computers. Due to the lack of control regarding passwords and security on IoT devices, this has made IoT devices a target by cybercriminals who will not relent from attacking the IoT devices thus causing harm in public infrastructure. Through using poorly secure network channels in IoT devices, cybercriminals would use botnet attacks on the huge swarms of connected sensors such as the thermostats sensors or sprinkler controllers and cause damages to the infrastructure. These botnet attacks have caused power surges, water hammer phenomenon, and a scarcity in the availability of critical infrastructure in a city or state. To solve these attacks, smarter control software is needed to tell the difference between an emergency and ambiguous sensor data. Also, standards need to be placed so that only secure data devices are allowed to receive and send data from IoT devices. Another handy solution to the attacks on insecure IoT devices is to ensure that the passwords on IoT devices are encrypted by strong cryptography, these would make it hard for cybercriminals to render passwords into a readable state (Roe, 2018).

Unprotected communication is another problem facing IoT since IoT devices work through communication with each other, a breakdown in communication will make IoT devices useless. The breakdown of communication can be caused by cybercriminals therefore to solve this, encryptions on the communication interface need to be used. Encryptions such as HTTP would make IoT devices safe from cyber attacks (Nwazor, 2018).

Insecure networks are yet another challenge facing IoT. insecure networks would make the back-end part of IoT devices vulnerable. To solve this, end-point security on IoT devices will have to be implemented. That would be through the use of anti-malware, anti-virus, and firewalls. This will make the IoT networks secure from attacks.

The lack of device authentication is another problem on IoT which can make IoT devices vulnerable to attacks. To solve this authentication has to be added as a feature in IoT devices. This can include things like biometrics, two-factor authentication, and the use of digital certificates. The use of these security features decreases the risk of attacks by cybercriminals.

Prevention has always been the best medicine. Therefore, possible future cyber-attacks on IoT can be prevented by using security analytics for IoT. This can be done by collecting data and analysing the data from different IoT devices. This will enable IT, professionals, to take notice of any suspicious and malicious anomalies and therefore the necessary corrective measures will be taken by the cybersecurity professionals. Earlier security issues will be noticed and effective solutions to the threats involved will be applied before any harm is made.

The lack of confidence ion IoT devices is another problem facing IoT. Recent research shows that 90 percent of consumers lack confidence in the security of IoT devices. This has prompted consumers and organizations to call for more government support in ensuring the security of IoT devices. Despite that, there still have been concerns by IoT consumers towards hackers controlling the IoT devices while other consumers and organizations are concerned about their data being leaked by hackers. Therefore, due to lack of confidence in IoT devices, people will shy away from adopting IoT. Therefore, education to consumers on the security application on IoT devices against cyber threats is needed. This will give consumers confidence in raising security alerts that may fall their IoT devices and even handling the flaws themselves. Through this can the consumer see that the gains of using IoT devices outweigh the losses for not using IoT devices. This will resolve the misunderstanding of IoT devices and give the consumer confidence in using IoT devices and even recommending the use of such devices to the public (Rolfe, 2018).

The lack of understanding of IoT is another issue facing IoT. Some people do not know about IoT. Others are concerned about security that they have not known of the recent security changes that IoT has gone through, and others simply don’t know of the importance of using IoT devices be it in their businesses, places of work, or at home. To solve the lack of understanding of IoT, it’s important to increase the ability of people's understanding and knowledge on IoT based systems so that the knowledge can address their worries, misunderstandings, and lack of knowledge. Through the creation of IoT platforms that advocate the use and updates on IoT can eradicate the lack of understanding of IoT.

CONCLUSION

In this article, we have looked at the problems and solutions that befall IoT. These have been; The problem of the creation of internet wall-like barriers in countries. The problem of cloud security on IoT and the use of encryption together with cloud monitoring to secure IoT, the problem of AI as a security threat to IoT, and the use of AI by cybersecurity professions to secure IoT. The problem of botnets to IoT and the use of encryption as a solution to botnets, the problem of insecure communication and the use of communication encryption as a solution, the problem of insecure networks and the use back-end protection as a solution, the use of authentication as a solution to minimize the chances of cyberattacks, the use of analytics to solve on the problem of future cyber attacks, the problem of lack of confidence on IoT devices and the use of education as a solution, the problem of lack of understanding on IoT and the use of information platforms as a solution.

In conclusion, IoT has a lot of technological potentials but with each and every technological advancement there are hurdles and with cybersecurity and data protection is the major issue that comes with IoT devices. Therefore, rapid solutions will be needed to face the ever-growing security challenges on IoT devices. The challenge with IoT will be the rapid Implementation of learnings made from security flaws which may also result in a total replacement of IoT devices with improved and more secure IoT devices which would be costly. However standard security practices by the consumer are always best at consistency when thwarting security threats that come on IoT devices.