Tag: security issues

The Security Challenge Posed by the Internet of Things: How to Rectify Them

Posted on by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

Nowadays, more and more devices are driven through IoT and this rise of IoT-connected devices has led to the rise of more concerns and challenges.
But this issue does not mean that it is the end of the road for IoT.
With the support of the right security framework, IoT devices will be able to eliminate the risk of any potential threats associated with the Internet of Things.

Below are some major security challenges and how you can rectify them.
Test for Vulnerabilities and Incidents
Despite having a good security level for IoT system, there are certain vulnerabilities and breaches that are unavoidable.
How can you discover if your IoT system has been compromised or not?
As there are huge numbers of devices, apps, services, and protocols contributing to IoT system, it can become very difficult to identify when security has been breached.
You can avail the help of a well-established security testing company so that dedicated resources can be spent on checking and analyzing the systems.
Authorize and Authenticate Devices
IoT systems come with authorization and authentication which can pose critical security issues.
IoT devices that need access to gateways and upstream services should establish their identity first.
Furthermore, there are various other IoT devices that fall under the security breach when it comes to authentication and authorization.
For instance, using an unchanged password or using a weak base password for authentication.
Therefore, to provide better security IoT devices must need to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) and enforce users to create and use strong password base or certificates.
Also, the IoT platform can provide device authorization to have a limited access to services throughout the system that can eliminate the risk of unauthorized access.
Secure Constraint Devices
Most of the constraint devices usually operate on lower power.
These devices have limited access to memory or processing ability that often leads to lower performance.
Security threats often rely on a powerful system that is capable of performing complex encryption.
So, these constrained devices pose a potential security threat in transmitting data.
Often these devices are more likely to get a power analysis attack that could lead to reverse engineer of algorithms which are used in IoT constrained devices.
To overcome this threat IoT device should need to deploy multilayer security by using firewalls or segregating devices onto separate networks.              
Manage Device Updates
Updating the firmware system including various security patches in IoT devices could lead to major security challenges.
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For instance, while updating the firmware you need to keep track of all the devices and updates across different platforms including network through which multiple devices communicate together using networking protocols.
Furthermore, there are lots of devices that do not support online updates, so these devices need to be updated manually by pulling them out from the production unit.
So, you need to keep a track of the updates and versions that are deployed across all the IoT devices failing which can cause retirement in any security patches.
More Secured Communication
Security challenges are often faced by IoT devices when they are communicating through a network.
Once, these devices are fully secured the next challenge which has to be overcome is secured communication across the network.
Communication of IoT devices between different services and cloud applications is often associated with security risks that may compromise the security system of the IoT device.
Many devices do not use encryption before sending the message over the network that causes a security challenge.
To overcome this challenge, the best practice is to use transport encryption or to adopt TLS that offers secure communications across the network.
Using this standard will enable you to enhance private communication, security and it will also ensure the data transmitted should remain confidential.
Ensure Data Privacy and Integrity
While data is transmitted across the network, it is important to ensure the wherever the data ends must be processed securely and stored.

Also Read: How To Do Security Testing: Best Practices

If data is inappropriately accessed, it can compromise the integrity of data and may face security issues in the future.
Thus, best practice to eliminate this issue is to implement data privacy that will anonymize the valuable data and redact it before it is stored.
Data which is not required should be securely disposed of.
Also, there are various other technologies that ensure data integrity by offering a scalable and resilient approach.
Blockchain which is a decentralized platform will help you to ensure the integrity of IoT data.
Secure Web, Mobile, and Cloud Application
 IoT devices also use various services including cloud applications, web or mobile to access and process data.
Thus, it becomes essential to provide a more secure approach to IoT security.
Before creating IoT application you need to ensure to apply more secured engineering practices to eliminate any security risks.
Similar to devices that use secured authentication to gain access to services, applications should also adopt 2FA (which is a multilayered security) and use a more secure password for authenticating services.
Ensure High Availability
As more and more people have relied on IoT and processing their day-to-day work, it becomes essential for developers to consider the high availability of IoT data.
People, devices, and application use IoT data to access and access to services which is managed by IoT systems.
The failure in accessing this data resulting from device failure or connectivity failure can lead to another critical security challenge like denial of service attacks.
The impact of unavailability of data can cause a huge loss in revenue, or damage to the system, or even loss of life.
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For instance, Traffic control, pacemakers or insulin pumps are all associated with IoT platform and to ensure high availability, devices should be secured against any vulnerable attack.
These devices must include redundancy, flexibility and fault tolerance to overcome this issue.

Serious Security Issues in Robotics : There is a Solution!

Posted on by tbsupadminnxtbackendacc

We often hear about the cyber threats that hackers posed and most of them were cyber attacks and security breaches.
But now, the main concern of threat which people are mainly discussing is how complex the security system will become with global promotion of robotics.
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Robotics has been introduced to computers as well as computer-related machines by early adopters without taking security issues and privacy into consideration.
The threats that robots poses are much higher than the threats compared to security breaches of the computer.
The attack on the computer may result in the data loss or identity theft, but what will happen if the robots were to hack?
Adoption of Robots in Market
Already, many industries have started practices to use automated robots for their operations and tasks which were once done by a human.
These robots generally involve open networks and remote access which lets the user use these machines from distant or from a remote location.
Many robotics companies use authentication, basic security level, and authorization while developing robotic software.
For instance, a teleoperated surgical robot which is a machine can be used by a doctor to perform a procedure on a patient from the other side of the world.
In the future, these robots could provide urgent care to people in disaster zones, on the battlefield, even up in space or radioactive zones where people can’t reach.
If you’re sending a robot to these areas but still want the human in control, there is a link between robot and human that let them interact with each other.
It can be used to control movements and operation of robots from remote locations via a network.
This may arise the potential that it can be compromised by the hackers and used for the disastrous purpose.
The long distance between the human operator and the robot means the communications between the two could be vulnerable to attack.
Cyber Security Problems in Robots
 Cyber security problems in robots arise due to some of the following reasons listed below:

  • Due to insecure communication between user and robot becomes the main cause for a cyber attack. Hackers can easily hack into insecure communication link in no time.
  • Another reason that can let hackers into the robot’s system is their authentication issues. Failure in guarding against unauthorized access can easily let hackers to use features of robots from remote locations without using any valid username and password.
  • If vendors do not have any proper encryption, it can expose sensitive data to the potential hackers.
  • Most of the features of robots are programmable and accessible. If the default configuration of the robot is weak, hackers can easily get access to these programmable features and change them.

Cyber Attacks On Robots
Thousands of robots are now showing up in professional as well as personal organizations. As many of them are self-propelled it is important to make them well protected that is not easy to hack.
If they are not secured, instead of helping people it can become a dangerous tool capable of doing unthinkable damages and causing havoc. Already, we have seen numerous consequences of cyber security problems associated with iOT (internet of things) that affects the internet, companies, and consumers.
Compromised cyber security in robots could result in massive impact. Moreover, computers like robots having legs, arms or wheels can pose serious threats which we have never confronted before.
As the communication between robot and human enhances, more severe attacks appear that eventually become a larger threat.
Humans are now researching over new peripheral devices and mechanical extremities that robot can operate, any mistakes in security could even lead up to kill.
We have already witnessed serious incidents associated with robots. In 2015, an incident took place at a car part manufacturer where a robot killed a woman worker at Ajin USA plant. It was said that the robot was restarted unexpectedly and loaded a trailer attachment assembly part onto the women’s head that crushed her skull. Similar incidents involving robots took place at other places as well. Here are the few examples:

  • At Stanford Shopping Center in Silicon Valley, a security robot runs over a toddler.
  • In Manesar India, a factory worker died after his ribs and the abdominal region was tightly gripped by the robot.
  • In 2007, 9 soldiers were killed by a robot cannon that was malfunctioned during the shooting exercise.
  • A study in the US has shown that robotic surgery is associated with 144 deaths.

These cases may be accidents, but we have a clear illustration of the consequences due to malfunction of robots. Hence, similar incidents can be caused by a robot that can be remotely controlled by the hackers.
How To Prevent Robot Hacking?
Robots use networks to communicate with human and then operate. It becomes easier for hackers to hack into the system of these networks and induce threats.
Currently, there are numerous popular home, business, and industrial robots available that can be accessed by the hackers.
Since the potential threat to the robot is much higher, a team of experts around the globe is finding ways to hack these vulnerable robots in order to figure out what security features need to be included in teleoperated robots, they find different ways to hack and then overcome it by introducing new features of security to these robots. Building a secured robot is a complex task and is not easy to achieve, thus below are some recommendations that can exponentially improve the security of a robot.

  • Encryption: Communication link and software updates in the robot must be properly encrypted by the vendor. If this link is not properly encrypted, it can become the major cause of the cyber
  • Factory Restore: Methods of restoring a robot to its factory default state must be provided by the vendor.
  • Authentication and Authorization: Vendors should ensure that the authorization and authentication to robot services and functionality are only accessible to specific users.
  • Secure by Default: The vendors need to ensure that the robot’s default configuration is properly secured so that if the robot were to be compromised, its configuration does not get changed by the hacker.
  • Supply Chain should be Secured: The technology providers should implement the best practices for Cybersecurity. Vendors must ensure whether the proper Cybersecurity practices are being done on the robot.
  • Proper Education: There should be a proper education for the cyber security that should be provided by the vendor not only to developers or engineer but to all the executives who all are involved in the product decisions. Thus it should be mandatory to train them with proper cyber security
  • Security Audits/QA Analysis: Before letting go the robot into production, the vendor should properly complete assessment to check safety and security aspects and also the performance of the robot.

The robotic industries are now making their way to disrupt other industries with their innovative technology in robots.
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As many of the people are now becoming dependent on the robots, it has become mandatory for these industries to quickly enhance its security to avoid any consequences or cyber attacks. It is time for robotic industries to take immediate action for securing their technologies from any vulnerable attacks.

Also Read : Major Cyber Attacks on India(2018)