Internet of Things: Security and Privacy issue & Solution

Security & Privacy Issues in IoT

IoT applications involve a lot of components. These are used and accessed on the wireless networks and cloud computing frameworks. As a result, there are security and privacy issues that get associated with the IoT applications. Some of the common and frequently occurring issues have been described below.

Cryptanalysis Attacks

Encryption of the data sets is one of the popular security techniques and controls that are used to avoid and prevent the occurrence of security threat and attack. However, the usual encryption techniques fail to work in the case of IoT applications and devices. The attackers may use this property of IoT applications and give shape to the cryptanalysis attacks. It is the attack in which the cipher text and algorithm is analysed by the attackers to understand the patterns and algorithms that are used to weaken the security of the application and data sets. There are different forms of cryptanalysis attacks that may be given shape over the IoT applications and devices. For example, ciphertext-only attacks are the ones in which the attacker has no knowledge or access to the plain text and is only able to analyse the cipher text and algorithms (Maple, 2017). There are known plaintext attacks that are also observed in which the attacker has a little or complete knowledge and access to the plain text. Differential, integral, and dictionary attacks are also the cryptanalysis attacks that may be given shape. Side-channel attacks may also be used in which the cipher-text and plain-text is not analysed; rather, the information regarding the physical systems is used to analyse the details of the encryption process being used. These details are then used to break in to the security of the device or the application.

Ransomware

It is one of the types of malware that is commonly observed in the case of IoT devices and applications. Ransomware attack is a malware attack in which the attackers block the user’s access to a service, application, or system and demands ransom in return. Once the user pays the ransom then the access may or may not be provided to the user. The ransom demanded by the attackers is in the form of a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoins. Some of the large-scale ransomware that have occurred in the recent times are WannaCry and Petya ransomware attacks.

Ransomware is launched by using security vulnerability in the system or a weak access point. In the case of IoT devices, there are several access points that are present due to the presence of multiple components. There may be a less secure access point that may be used to launch the ransomware. The users, networks, and the emails are the primary agents that are used to launch the attack (Latif & Zafar, 2017).

Insecure Web Interface

There are web interfaces that are developed for the IoT devices that allow the users to connect with the application. These interfaces may be in the form of a web site, web application, or a mobile application. However, the presence of an insecure web interface may lead to the occurrence of security and privacy issues. The users may utilize weak credentials to log in to these interfaces which may provide the attackers with the ability to launch the Brute Force attacks and gain unauthorized access. Cross Site Scripting and SQL injection attacks may also take place due to the presence of insecure web interface (Gopi& Rao, 2018).

Lack of adequate authorization and authentication on the web interface is also one of the primary challenges that welcome an abundant set of security risks and attacks. Insecure password recovery may allow the attacker to capture the password of the users. Lack of role-based access control or multi-fold authentication is another security risk that may take place.

Conclusion

IoT is a technology that is exposed to a lot many security and privacy issues. The technology has provided the users with a lot many benefits in terms of faster processing, inter-connected frameworks, and integrated platforms. However, the occurrence of the security and privacy issues in IoT may result in the deterioration of the user trust and experience. The security and privacy challenges have been described in the sections above. There are security controls and techniques that shall be used to avoid these risks and issues. Also, the user must be made aware of the practices that may be adopted to put a check on the attacks and threats