How is the IoT Changing Business Security Practices?

Is the popularity of IoT devices changing business security best practices? The number of connected IoT devices is expected to surpass 29 billion by 2030 and nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023 alone. IoT devices have proven extremely useful for many business applications and are only increasing in popularity yearly.

The main drawback of these devices is the need for built-in security — most IoT devices are not designed from a cybersecurity perspective. As a result, they frequently become security blindspots that can pose a serious risk to companies’ networks.

There are many ways organizations are adapting to IoT devices in the workplace. Business security best practices are leaving behind implicit trust, expanding monitoring and testing and changing the way they set up their networks.

Adopting Zero Trust Approaches

The zero trust security framework includes some of the best business security best practices to adopt when working with IoT devices. The tactics can contain the risks associated with IoT devices without limiting their ability to operate properly. Zero trust security also gets around a common challenge with IoT — the inability to implement onboard security solutions.

There are straightforward ways to secure the device from digital threats on a laptop or work-issued smartphone — this is often different with IoT devices. This doesn’t matter in a zero trust security framework, though. Zero trust secures networks by treating all traffic as suspicious until it has been authenticated as legitimate and safe. Plus, all traffic is validated continuously, so nothing suspicious goes unnoticed in a zero trust security system.

By looking critically at the entire network, zero trust resolves several key security concerns associated with IoT. For example, zero trust prioritizes constant monitoring, leading to high visibility over IoT device activity. Additionally, all devices need to be identified and authenticated, so IoT device spoofing is far more difficult for hackers to get away with. Zero trust also minimizes access for every device and user, so no unauthorized user can access the entire network through an IoT device.

Increasing Visibility

One of the biggest challenges of working with IoT devices is managing the amount of data and traffic they create. High visibility has become one of the most critical business security best practices to account for this challenge. When companies have high network visibility, they can get a clearer picture of their network traffic, strengths and weaknesses.

There are several ways organizations are increasing their visibility. For example, a company might use penetration testing to identify security vulnerabilities on its network. Penetration testing involves cybersecurity experts — such as white hat hackers — attempting to break into a network as if they were cybercriminals. The test does not cause any harm, but it does reveal what could happen if a real hacker attacked a business’s network.

Tests like this are crucial when working with IoT devices since there are many possible doorways for hackers to exploit. A penetration test can reveal any particularly vulnerable devices.

Similarly, network monitoring programs help companies monitor the data coming and going from their IoT devices. Data is crucial for IoT devices to operate — it isn’t possible to simply cut them off. The whole idea is for them to communicate with one another. Unfortunately, hackers can use all this data traffic as cover for malicious activity. Effective network monitoring tools — such as AI threat detection — are now vital to protecting organizations using IoT devices.

Changing Network Management

How a network is managed and set up can significantly impact how secure the IoT devices connected to the network are. Some network management best practices have emerged as practical solutions to IoT security. Key among these is network segmentation.

Network segmentation consists of splitting a business’s wireless network into multiple isolated branches. IT managers should put IoT devices on their own segment of the network with high-level security and access control. This keeps the high-risk IoT devices quarantined from the rest of the network. Only administrators or those who absolutely need to access the IoT devices should have clearance for this network segment.

If an IoT device is somehow compromised, network segmentation prevents a hacker from doing much with it. Since the device is essentially on its own network, the hacker could not use it to get to data in other network segments. Of course, companies must take measures to protect all network segments. However, network segmentation minimizes the potential blast radius from a compromised IoT device.

Additionally, firewalls are getting renewed attention in business security best practices thanks to IoT devices. They rely so heavily on communication that it can be easy for unauthorized users or data to slip through unnoticed amidst heavy network traffic. So, the firewall has to act as the bouncer for organizations’ networks, automatically stopping any malicious activity at the door. Both software and hardware firewalls can achieve this task.

Conventional packet-filtering firewalls may not be enough to protect IoT devices. Companies should consider stricter firewall types, such as stateful inspection or next-gen firewalls. Stateful inspection is particularly good for defending against DDoS attacks, which may target IoT devices to create botnets. Next-generation firewalls may be more expensive than other types, but they cover almost the full spectrum of network traffic, from the data link layer to the application layer.

Business Security Best Practices for IoT Devices

Business security best practices are evolving as IoT devices grow in popularity. IoT devices are extremely valuable and helpful in the workplace, providing organizations with data and insights that help them deliver a better experience for customers and employees. However, these devices are highly vulnerable to attack without adequate protection. Companies must improve their network security, visibility and access control to defend against IoT cyberattacks.