How would you feel if you are told that the majority of enterprises today are incapable of keeping their IoT networks secure? And we are not talking about some bulletproof system, they aren’t even proficient enough to secure themselves against known vulnerabilities. Everyone remembers WannaCry and other high profile leaks at Yahoo and Uber but few actually realize that virtually every network around the globe- even the one you are using now, is no different from them.
In fact, some security researchers go as far as saying that “if you are online, you are already hacked. You just don’t know it yet”. Though that seems a bit far-fetched, recent studies have indicated that the IoT devices that enterprises deploy are actually ticking time-bomb for their network security. Last year, two such instances were revealed- one attacked an electricity grid and caused a blackout in Kiev, the other attacked an industrial control system. Even the much hyped Sony hack is also believed to be caused by these time-bombs.
Then there are the cryptocurrencies. They are practically very secure- they can’t be counterfeited or traced or in anyway manipulated with. So the hackers found a different way- if the currency can’t be hacked, hack the wallet! And that’s what happened. There were countless cases of such hacks in the last year and because these currencies are designed to be untraceable, the money lost is lost forever.
No, we are not here to spread paranoia but simply outlining the fact that the two most promising technologies- IoT and ICO, that saw major developments last year are actually mired in security issues. And while there is still no doubt over their potential, the success they achieve will be largely determined by how they manage those security issues this year.
And security isn’t just a problem of these rising technologies, but the recent spike in cases of data leakages from cloud applications, ATM frauds, email phishing, among many others have uncovered the broad security vulnerabilities that affect the entire digital space. So it won’t be an overstatement we say 2018 is going to be swim or sink year for cyber security and the key areas of the struggle are definitely going to be:
#1. Cloud applications
The news of hackers stealing credentials of millions of users of any cloud service is now common news. Despite the fact that these companies use some of the most sophisticated security measures, the possibility of such events is always on the cards. Possibly that is also the reason why these services work on the model of shared risk so the most you can do is take a backup. That is, if your drive gets locked due to ransomware someday, you don’t necessarily have to risk losing your data.
#2. IoT
While the risk of IoT security has been discussed at length above, there is little that consumers can do to protect themselves. That onus primarily lies on hardware manufacturers, network designers, and IoT development agencies. After all, unless all of these layers are properly secured, security measures at consumer-end like keeping passwords, or continuous monitoring, will have little or no impact.
#3. ICO
Like mentioned earlier, cryptocurrencies or tokens in themselves are absolutely secure. The weakness lies in how they are exchanged. The hackers can simply change the address of recipient wallet or launch a DDoS attack to route the tokens somewhere else.
The solution- just like the security of IoT devices depends on IoT app development and not the users themselves, the security of security of cryptocurrencies or tokens relies on the wallet and there is nothing that users can do about it. That is, these are problems that can be solved only from top to bottom and not the other way around.
If still, you have concerns related to cyber security and how to manage these issues, let’s talk with experts at OffshoreWebDeveloper and keep your networks and applications secure.