ISSC 4987 Cyber Security

Introduction:

The aim of this paper is discussing about network security and privacy issues for IoT services. The issues will be identified and the possible recommendations for safeguarding the IoT devices will be also discussed. To work effectively with the IoT objects, software, hardware and connectivity will be needed to be secured. Without the network security for IoT devices, any of the connected objects from manufacturing bots to refrigerators can be hacked.  Once the hackers will get controls, they will be also having the ability of usurp the functionality of the object as well as they will be also able to steal the digital data of users. For cloud and IoT devices the network security is one of the important part as having a weak network security may lead to attacks that include denial of service, man in the middle attacks (Nebbione and Calzarossa, 2020). The network security in IoT is involved in securing the communication network of various IoT based objects.

Literature review:

The IoT based technologies are becoming pervasive in private and public sectors as well as presently represent an integral part of everyday life. The threat landscape of IoT is extremely complex and wide as well as a wide variety of software and hardware based technologies are included there (Nebbione and Calzarossa, 2020). The research provides a comprehensive survey of the security of application layer protocol through presenting the major findings and challenges. The main focus is on the popular most protocols devised in the IoT based environment for data sharing and messaging for the discovery of services. The findings can indicate that to make sure about the security at application layer so challenging, the IoT based devices are exposed to various security risks doe the lack of appropriate security services in the protocol.

The principle of linking the intelligent device to the internet that is taken out in the IoT. The model can facilitate the relation with Cloud among the intellectual real items as well as various contact parties like the cellular devices and servers (Ali and Askar, 2021). The expansion of the weak points that can also bring harmfulness to the network as the data can be breached. The security aspects in the IoT based communication protocols along with the security threats of various layers which are dependent on the security concepts of data integrity, data confidentiality and privacy. In the paper, have reviewed and compared vulnerabilities in different protocols.

The IoT is basically a global network of virtual and physical things which are connected with the Internet. Each of the objects are having a unique IF that is utilized for identification purpose. The Internet of things is an emerging technology that will change the way of interactions with the devices. As most of the devices will be operated with battery, for the less power of processing, the privacy and security is one of the major issues in IoT (Rehman et al., 2020). The identification, authentication and device heterogeneity are the major privacy and security concerns of IoT. The major issues associated with privacy and security of IoT have been discovered such as scalability, integrity, business communication, ethics communication mechanism and surveillance.

The electrical appliances and equipment can induce huge potential dangers. The FTFS can also be used for the indoor security (Kumar et al., 2017). The system has been reviewed with anti fire, anti theft alarm system, emergency alarm functions and video monitors. The sensitive information can be leaked out in case of handling hardware and unauthorized manipulation. For providing privacy to the devices there are various security concerns like location privacy of the device holder , non-identifiability which means protection of identity of the exact same nature of the device. The security and privacy implications of such evaluation should be considered carefully to the promising technology.

One of the major risks in IoT is the incorrect access control. The services offered by the IoT device should be accessible by the owner, the IoT devices can trust the local networks where no authorization and authentication is required (Morabito et al., 2017). A major issue is that all the devices of similar model are delivered with the similar passcode. The default setting and firmware are identical usually for all the devices of same model. Another issue is the outdated software, as the vulnerabilities in the software are discovered as well as resolved, this is so much important to distribute the updated version for providing protection against the vulnerabilities which means the IoT devices must need to be updated with the latest security and software without any such known vulnerabilities.

Cyber and network security advancements:

The security for IoT devices can ensure about safeguarding networks and connected device in the IoT. The Internet of Things is involved with adding internet connectivity to the system of interrelated computing devices, digital and mechanical machines along with other related objects. Each of the things are provided with a unique identifier and the ability of transferring data automatically over a network. Security in IoT based devices refer to the methodologies of protections which are used for securing network based and internet connected devices, as the IoT is broad so that security for IoT devices is broader. It has resulted in variety of methods which are falling under providing security to IoT devices (Xiao et al., 2018). The public key authentication and application program interface security are just some of the methods which can be used by the IT leaders for combating the growing threats of cyber terrorism and cyber crime rooted in IoT devices which are vulnerable.

Presently, the entire world is on a verge of an explosion of IoT based services and products as well as the security for IoT based devices which is a concern. The IoT has started disrupting the governments, consumers and enterprises as well as paving the wat of an analytical revolution. With the help of IoT based devices, soon the world will be able to connect with any control or devices in every aspects of life from self driving cars, smart homes, smart city etc. As the IoT is becoming the mainstream with the organizations like Cisco, Google, Intel, IBM and others are leading towards the revolution (Morabito et al., 2017). The IoT has the ability of changing the way of living, working and travelling and many more.

As a wide range of opportunities will be provided by IoT explosion for consumers and manufacturers, this can also pose major threats in terms of security. As more devices will get interconnected so providing security to them will be a huge issue. The software, hardware and connectivity all will need to be secured for the IoT devices so that they can work effectively. Without providing security to the IoT devices, any connected objects from  manufacturing bots to smart refrigerators can be hacked easily (Razzaq et al., 2017). Once the hackers will get control over the network they will also get the ability to steal the digital data of users so providing security to IoT devices should not be neglected. Security by design is a better approach to hardware and software development where the security is built in the form of beginning. The requirement of security to IoT devices by design has become so much crucial as the technology companies are continuing to churn out a myriad of IoT based objects for enterprises and consumers. As all the IoT based devices are connected with internet so they are vulnerable for remote hacking. For preventing these kind of risks from the IoT devices proper security measures will be required.

Recommendations for safeguarding digital infrastructure:

As the number of connected devices are increasing continuously so this is also challenging increasingly for organizations for securing them and keeping the threats at bay. As the organizations have started adopting IoT or they are looking for expanding their IoT networks which are established. The security in IoT devices is referred to as the methodologies of protection which can be utilized for securing the network based and internet connected devices. As IoT is huge and with the technology it is evolving continuously, from thermostats to watches to smart homes, each and every devices are having the ability of interacting with the internet or with other IoT based devices as per capacity (Vorakulpipat et al., 2018). The protocols like API and HTTP are just few of the channels on which the IoT based devices rely on that where the hackers can interrupt. Due to the internet supported connectivity, the IoT devices are having a huge attack surface. For providing safeguards to the digital infrastructure, they are few ways such as:

• Skip all defaults and double down passwords: The least that can be done for ensuring about the security of IoT devices with strong username and passwords which is way more difficult than the default one. The users should change the passwords frequently in every 30 to 90 days. The users can also use a password manager for avoiding utilization of straight forward and similar passwords that can be risky for the users.
• Using multifactor authentication: The MFA can play backup role if the password authentication will fail, either for the reason of data leak or the hacker figured that out through brute force attack. Just as other security features, the number of authentication or complexity of authentication should correlate to the threat model along with the level of security. The multi factor authentication can be as simple as receiving text message with the help of a unique number whenever the user will try to login to the system.
• Keeping the software up to date: The software updates are not just a sleeker UI or just added features, they can also fix old bugs as well as can also patch security vulnerabilities. Falling for keeping the software of IoT devices up to date every time will leave the network will be susceptible to the attacks specially if they are connected with the Internet.
• Encrypting the connection when the user need to go online: There are various ways which can be used for securing the network connection, one of the most beneficial methods will be applying encryption to the data which is existed to the internal network as well as can also distinguish any kind of vulnerabilities or sensitive information.
• Securing the internet connection: The router plays as a gateway between network or IoT devices to the open internet (Vorakulpipat et al., 2018). If the connection will be left as unsecured then it will be easy for the attackers to exploit the connection. For the case of routers, the user should change the default SSID, admin password and username with secured alternatives. It will be also needed to make sure that the router is having the highest level of protection and the wireless router has WPA 2 type encryption.
• Setting up a monitoring system: In the environment, a monitoring system should be implemented so that the health of the devices can be monitored so that any type of unusual data flow , connection to the internet, suspected unauthorized access in the network can be detected.
• Utilizing network segmentation: The network segmentation is the procedure to split the internal network in to separate and multiple sub networks. For the cases of successful cyber attacks, the attackers can gain access to the entirety of the network. The network segmentation can also prevent those through doing minimization of damages as well as limiting the area of attack. It can also provide allowance in focusing on limited security resources of the segments with the critical most data.
• Focus on scalability and flexibility: Regardless of the various measures of security that will be decided to be implemented, this is so much important to consider flexibility and scalability, specially with more complex type of security solution.

Conclusion:

Thus, it can be concluded from the report that in this paper the discussion about Network security for IoT services has been done. It can be stated that whether this is convenient smart business or smart home optimized for productivity and efficiency, the IoT has been becoming as an indispensable part of daily life along with the modern business related operations. However, as the communication and network of smart devices are growing in complexity and number, this is become increasingly apparent as the risks can be mitigated. The security issues with the IoT devices have been discussed as well as the security measures for IoT devices have also been provided so that the network can get the ability to defend the cyber threats.

References:

Ali, K. and Askar, S., 2021. Security Issues and Vulnerability of IoT Devices. International Journal of Science and Business, 5(3), pp.101-115.

Kumar, S.A., Bhargava, B., Macêdo, R. and Mani, G., 2017, June. Securing iot-based cyber-physical human systems against collaborative attacks. In 2017 IEEE International Congress on Internet of Things (ICIOT) (pp. 9-16). IEEE.

Morabito, R., Farris, I., Iera, A. and Taleb, T., 2017. Evaluating performance of containerized IoT services for clustered devices at the network edge. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 4(4), pp.1019-1030.

Nebbione, G. and Calzarossa, M.C., 2020. Security of IoT application layer protocols: Challenges and findings. Future Internet, 12(3), p.55.

Razzaq, M.A., Gill, S.H., Qureshi, M.A. and Ullah, S., 2017. Security issues in the Internet of Things (IoT): A comprehensive study. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 8(6), p.383.

Rehman, A.U., Firdous, A., Iqbal, S., Abbas, Z., Shahid, M.M.A., Wang, H. and Ullah, F., 2020. A Color Image Encryption Algorithm Based on One Time Key, Chaos Theory, and Concept of Rotor Machine. IEEE Access, 8, pp.172275-172295.

Vorakulpipat, C., Rattanalerdnusorn, E., Thaenkaew, P. and Hai, H.D., 2018, February. Recent challenges, trends, and concerns related to IoT security: An evolutionary study. In 2018 20th International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (ICACT) (pp. 405-410). IEEE.

Xiao, L., Wan, X., Lu, X., Zhang, Y. and Wu, D., 2018. IoT security techniques based on machine learning: How do IoT devices use AI to enhance security?. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 35(5), pp.41-49.

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