The Internet of Things is one of the most promising technologies today that is widely used for creating advanced solutions for a wide range of industries. IoT apps allow companies to automate multiple processes and, consequently, to increase their productivity, reduce operating costs and optimize their work in general.
However, if you are considering the implementation of IoT solutions in your business processes, you should bear in mind that one of the most important points that you have to take care of in order to avoid any issues in the future is the security of each device and the entire system as the whole.
There are a lot of ways to minimize risks and secure IoT devices that good IoT developers should be aware of. Their implementation has different levels of complexity and they are able to ensure different levels of protection. The choice of the protection measures that will be used greatly depends on the type of your system, the domain that your company works in as well as associated risks.
We offer you to have a look at possible ways to secure your IoT devices. We hope that you will find the best variant for your system.
Think carefully about passwords
The easiest thing that you can do for ensuring the security of your IoT network is to set usernames and passwords that will differ from those used in the default mode. Your passwords should be strong enough and include different types of symbols. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to change them at least every 30-90 days. For those systems that include a great number of devices, it will be an excellent idea to use a password manager. It will help you to avoid such cases when your passwords will be very similar to each other.
Introduce MFA
MFA is an abbreviation of multi-factor authentication. It will be of great use when passwords fail. Authentication can include a different number of steps and can have different complexity. For example, it can presuppose just sending a unique code to a user’s phone number or generating a unique code locally on a smartphone or tablet of a user.
If you want to ensure higher protection, you can implement physical authentication. For example, a user may need to utilize a physical key like a USB stick. The next level of protection presupposes using biometrics verification.
Timely update your software
This practical tip is really very simple but many users forget about it. Software updates should include not only adding new features but also fixing bugs and eliminating security vulnerabilities.
Encrypt your connection
We also recommend you encrypt all data that leaves your local network. You can do it, for example, by using a VPN which is able to change the IP addresses of your devices and encrypt all the data that will be exiting your network. As a result, thanks to it, you can significantly increase the security level by adding an extra layer.
Ensure the security of your internet connection
Start the protection with your router. Change the network name, update the admin username, and do not forget to set a new password that also should be regularly updated just like the device passwords that we’ve mentioned above.
Also, it will be very useful to increase the router’s encryption level. Choose the highest one that is available.
Contact regular monitoring
To conduct high-quality continuous monitoring, we advise you to set up a monitoring system that will track the state of your devices and notify you if something suspicious like unauthorized access or unusual flow of data is detected.
Introduce network segmentation
For better managing, operating, and protecting your system (especially if it is a big one), you can divide it into numerous sub-networks. Such segments should be absolutely separate and independent, however, they can interact when it is required. Segmentation will allow you to avoid situations when hackers get access to the entire system simultaneously. As attackers will be able to reach only isolated segments, you will be able to reduce damages.
Build flexible systems
Actually, flexibility and scalability are very important characteristics for absolutely all systems and solutions. However, when it comes to complex IoT networks, they should be viewed as the highest priority. With a scalable and highly flexible system, you will have the possibility to introduce all security tools seamlessly, even when your system will start actively growing.
As you see, today there are different approaches to increasing the security of your IoT devices which means that you can find the most appropriate options for you and implement them. We highly recommend you not ignore the necessity to protect your devices as IoT systems that deal with various types of sensitive data quite often become easy prey for cybercriminals and hackers.
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