Security Issues IOT Apps Internet Riskâ€Free Samples for Students

Questions: What are the types of these attacks and risks? What can be the results that may come out from these attacks and what can be the possible and probable consequences of the same? What are the various countermeasures and protection mechanisms that may be applied to control and fight the security risks and vulnerabilities? What are the next steps of action that may be taken to enhance the security of IoT apps? Answers: Introduction Technology is something that is experiencing and witnessing many advancements and enhancements with each passing day. One of the latest advancement in the field of technology is the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is defined as a technology and a concept that combines several technologies, devices and methodologies to achieve a specific and a particular goal and objective. There is a lot of research and development work that has been done and is being carried out in the field of IoT. Some of these applications that have been provided to the users are in the commercial sector, manufacturing industries, transportation field and many others as well (Bhabad, 2015). The use of these advanced applications lead to several advantages for the users. However, as is the case with every technology and gadget, IoT applications are also associated with many security risks and attacks. Background Research Questions Internet of Things which is commonly abbreviated and addressed as IoT is a concept that is like an umbrella which includes several components such as methodologies, technologies, networks, devices and human resources. There are several questions that have been attempted to be answered with the aid of the research that has been carried out and covered in this report. Security Issues with IoT Apps Confidentiality Issues and Risks Eavesdropping IoT applications involve and are an amalgamation of various technologies and concepts. Also, there are numerous devices and gadgets that are involved in a single IoT application. Due to the presence and involvement of so many entities, there are several access points that are created. These access points provide the opportunity and ability to the malicious attackers to eavesdrop into the application to hamper the confidentiality of the information (Wood, 2016). Unauthorized Tracking Because of the presence of the access points and entry points, there are chances that the attackers may succeed in tracking the application and its associated information in an unauthorized manner. Data Mining Attacks There are numerous latest technologies that have been developed and have been created with the passage of time. Data mining is one of such technology that comes under Business Intelligence (BI) that has a significant role to play in case of an IoT application. There are security threats and vulnerabilities involved with data mining that may compromise the confidentiality of the information (Amato, 2016). Reconstruction Attacks It is necessary to preserve the confidentiality of the information that is associated with an IoT application. However, the confidentiality in hampered and violated with the execution of a reconstruction attack in which the information is given a new shape. Integrity Issues Risks Message Alteration Another important property of the information that is required to be protected and preserved is its integrity. As per the rule of information integrity, any change or modification shall be authorized and shall be reflected in all the copies of the information and data sets. However, this rule is often violated by the malevolent entities by altering the messages that are exchanged with internal and external entities associated with the application (Microsoft, 2016). Media Alteration Another important property of the information that is required to be protected and preserved is its integrity. As per the rule of information integrity, any change or modification shall be authorized and shall be reflected in all the copies of the information and data sets. However, this rule is often violated by the malevolent entities by altering the media contents that are exchanged with internal and external entities associated with the application (Aws, 2016). Availability Issues Risks Flooding Attacks Flooding attacks are the attacks that violate and hamper the availability of the information or the IoT application. These are the attacks in which flooding of the traffic is executed and caused by the attackers. This traffic is unwanted in nature and usually considered as garbage traffic that only deteriorates the continuity of the services which later causes breakdown of the same (Nichols, 2016). Server Impersonating Servers that are associated with the IoT application are many in number and because of the presence of so many entities impersonation of the servers is carried out. The information that is acquired by this process often results in the violation of the availability of the application or the information. QoS Abuse Users of the IoT application are satisfied only when they are provided with utmost levels of quality. However, the quality of the application and its services are violated due to the impact on the availability. This form of attack is termed as Quality of Service (QoS) abuse (Panetta, 2016). Consequences of the Issues An IoT application consists of a lot of information. For instance, home automation is an IoT application that may comprise of the information such as details of the residents, details of the rooms and equipment present in the house, time of accessing the equipment that are available in the house, entry and exit timing of the residents and a lot more. This information is extremely confidential in nature and violation of the security of the home automation application will result in a lot many negative impacts for the users. Similarly, in case of other IoT applications, the information that is involved is critical and occurrence of any of the security risk or attack may have some very serious impacts and consequences (Mahmoud, 2015). There may be legal obligations and occurrences that may come up because of the occurrence of any of the security risk or threat. There are several impacts that may affect the developer of the IoT application such as performance in the market. The provider of the IoT application will suffer a lot because of the deterioration of the image and brand value in the market. The goodwill and customer engagement along with the customer trust will also be impacted negatively and will come down. There are several providers of the IoT apps in the market with increase in the demands of the users and these providers are the competitors of each other. Security violation at the end of one provider will cause damage to the provider and will create new opportunities for the other (Ko Dorantes, 2016). Protection Mechanisms There are many security risks and concerns that are present in association with the IoT apps that may impact the availability of the systems. These availability risks and attacks can be protected and prevented through anti-denial and similar automated tools and packages. Access and identity management plays an important role in case of all the IoT application. It will be necessary to upgrade the access and identity controls by improving the state of authentication through implementation of two-fold and multi-step authentication measures (Lu, 2014). Network security is extremely essential in case of IoT and other application that make use of networks for any of the application activities and services. It is necessary to improve the state of network security by taking several administrative and technical steps such as network audits and reviews along with authorized monitoring and tracking of the networks. The information that is present in the IoT applications shall be encrypted so that it is always secure in nature and is also protected even if the attackers or other malevolent entities succeed in acquiring the same. There are many tools and packages that have been developed in the form of intrusion detection and intrusion prevention packages and systems. These tools are based on automated algorithms and packages to keep an account of all the network activities and malicious attempts that may be executed by the attackers. There are numerous gadgets and devices that are used in the IoT applications and safety of these devices is essential. For instance, loss of a mobile phone in case of a smart parking application will reveal the user details along with the location and a lot of private and confidential information. It shall be made sure that the overall legal architecture that guards the information security is strong and efficient enough to deal with the security risks and attacks. It shall be made sure that there is no compromise on the basic security associated with the application. This basic security shall be enhanced in the form of firewalls or proxy servers. Physical Security its Role Physical security is an important step that is required to be taken in association with the IoT application and its security. It is often assumed that with the increase in virtualization, it is not required to pay attention to the state of physical security in the system. However, it is not true. Physical security plays an important role in the present scenario as well. It shall be made sure that the data centres and their physical security is maintained and upgraded at regular intervals (Jing, 2014). Conclusion There is a lot of work that is being done in the area of IoT security. One of the latest developments in the area is threat hunting. However, it is a concept that is still not spread and expanded at a large scale and is expected to witness some rapid development in the near future. The mechanism includes the execution of the procedures for searching and hunting the threats that are associated with the IoT application and its components. The mechanism is based upon the Hunting Maturity model which is abbreviated as HMM. The organizations maturing in terms of threat hunting is rated on a scale of HMM0 to HMM4 with HMM0 being the lowest. The organizations shall adapt to the processes to enhance their maturity model in terms of threat hunting for better prevention and detection of the security risks and attacks. Internet of Things which is commonly abbreviated and addressed as IoT is a concept that is like an umbrella which includes several components such as methodologies, technologies, networks, devices and human resources. There is a lot of research and development work that has been done and is being carried out in the field of IoT. Some of these applications that have been provided to the users are in the commercial sector, manufacturing industries, transportation field and many others as well. There are several risks and attacks that are related with the IoT applications in the categories of confidentiality, integrity and availability attacks. In case of IoT applications, the information that is involved is critical and occurrence of any of the security risk or attack may have some very serious impacts and consequences. There may be legal obligations and occurrences that may come up because of the occurrence of any of the security risk or threat. There are several impacts that may affe ct the developer of the IoT application such as performance in the market. The provider of the IoT application will suffer a lot because of the deterioration of the image and brand value in the market. The goodwill and customer engagement along with the customer trust will also be impacted negatively and will come down. It is often assumed that with the increase in virtualization, it is not required to pay attention to the state of physical security in the system. However, it is not true. Physical security plays an important role in the present scenario as well. References Amato, N. (2016). The hidden costs of a data breach. Journal of Accountancy. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/jul/hidden-costs-of-data-breach-201614870.html Aws,. (2016). Overview of Security Processes. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://d0.awsstatic.com/whitepapers/aws-security-whitepaper.pdf Bhabad, M. (2015). Internet of Things: Architecture, Security Issues and Countermeasures. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.ijcaonline.org/research/volume125/number14/bhabad-2015-ijca-906251.pdf Jing, Q. (2014). Security of the Internet of Things: perspectives and challenges. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://csi.dgist.ac.kr/uploads/Seminar/1407_IoT_SSH.pdf Ko, M. Dorantes, C. (2016). The impact of information security breaches on financial performance of the breached firms: An empirical investigation. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://jitm.ubalt.edu/XVII-2/article2.pdf Lu, C. (2014). Overview of Security and Privacy Issues in the Internet of Things. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse574-14/ftp/security.pdf Mahmoud, R. (2015). Internet of things (IoT) security: Current status, challenges and prospective measures - IEEE Xplore Document. Ieeexplore.ieee.org. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7412116/ Microsoft,. (2016). Microsoft Core Infrastructure Optimization: IT Security Processes - Best Practices for Business IT. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.microsoft.com/india/infrastructure/capabilities/itprocesses.mspx Nichols, A. (2016). A Perspective on Threats in the Risk Analysis Process. Sans.org. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/auditing/perspective-threats-risk-analysis-process-63 Panetta, K. (2016). Gartner's Top 10 Security Predictions 2016 - Smarter With Gartner. Smarter With Gartner. Retrieved 9 May 2017, from https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-10-security-predictions-2016/ Wood, P. (2016). 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