Privacy
Question:
Discuss about the Security and Privacy Issues in Internet of Things.
This report is based on topic of security and privacy issues in Internet of Things (IoT). It is a system of interrelated computing devices. Various devices that are used at personal and business level to perform different activities are connected through IoT. These devices can be home appliances, medical devices, computer devices, smart phones and other electronic devices, mechanical and digital machines. All these devices are connected through IoT and store and transfer data from one device to another. IoT is an enhanced version of information technology and it consists of various benefits. There are various industries that are frequently using IoT and these industries are manufacturing, utilities, hospitality, and healthcare, defense and banks etc. If at one side, IoT has some benefits, then on other side, it has some issues of security and privacy that are encountered by its users. Users send their personal data through devices that are connected with Inter of Things (IoT). Therefore, security of these devices is necessary so that users can transfer their data without worry of hacking and phishing attacks. The purpose of making this report is to emphasize on challenges of security and privacy in IoT, its problems, its relevant technologies, impact of issues of IoT on real life of users and other essential points (Datafloq.com, 2017).
The essential challenges of security and privacy of Internet of Things are listed as below:
- Privacy
- Security
- Development
- Standards
Privacy
There are multiple devices are connected with IoT and with these devices huge amount of data is transferred over network by users. Therefore, privacy of this huge amount of data is a challenging factor for developers of IoT. Hackers always keep their eye on this type of networks that transfer hefty data and try to hack these networks. That is why, it is major accountability of hackers to maintain high level of privacy (Forbes.com, 2017).
Security
Another essential challenge of IoT is security of data. Hacking, malware attacks, phishing and data breaching etc. are commonly encountered security attacks and these are implemented on databases, networks and computer systems to access information in unauthorized way by cyber-criminals. In this case, if security of data will not be maintained in appropriately by IoT developers then it may cause problems of users (IoT Agenda, 2017).
Development
There are various emerging economies where it is promised by IoT to deliver effective social and economic benefits. But due to critical challenges of IoT and lack of market readiness, technical skills and policy requirements in these areas, IoT development is low among users in these areas. Therefore, it is also a challenging factor for IoT to manage its development in these particular areas (Meola, 2017).
Standards
There is lack of open standards in IoT for devices that are connected with it. Every device follows its own standards to transfer data over network. This thing causes conflicts in transferring data over different networks and it enhances chances of hacking attacks for its users.
Security
Besides above discussed challenges of Internet of Things, there are some problems of IoT that are necessary to discuss in this report (Olavsrud, 2017).
- The major problem of IoT is related to its nature. The devices that are connected with IoT are from different data sets and different data streams. Therefore, there is risk in management of data due to this diversity in nature.
- The monitoring or tracking of devices is also an essential problem of IoT. Due to wide size of applications of IoT, it becomes difficult in some cases to monitor and track these devices. Due to this, it is difficult to identify security issues in these devices.
In above segments of report we have discussed about challenges and problems of IoT. The resolution of these problem is necessary and to do this relevant technologies are required to use that are listed as below:
- The maintenance of security of network is one of relevant technologies for handling problem of IoT. To securely transfer large amount of data through multiple IoT devices, maintenance of network security is important. Here networking monitoring tools can provide help to achieve high level of security.
- Encryption is also an essential technique that can be used by IoT for data security. By using encryption technique, whole data can be encrypted into unreadable form that is difficult for hackers to guess (Prophet Thinking, 2017).
- The authentication technique is also relevant to use for security purpose. If all devices that are IoT will be authorized for users with login credentials then risk of unauthorized access will be reduced (com, 2017).
The above discussed relevant technologies can be used in every industry or company where IoT devices are used. The technologies will be helpful to maintain security and privacy of databases and networks into these companies and industries (Datamation.com, 2017).
In field of IoT, people have confusion about some points and during research we found queries of IoT users regarding its vague areas that are listed as below:
Question 1: What is Interesting use of IoT?
Answer: According to analysis, we got to know that the most interesting use of IoT is use of sensors. These sensors can be used to sense infective awareness in cities.
Question 2: What are important factors to increased benefits of IoT?
Answer: The most important factor of IoT that contributes to increase benefits of IoT is interoperability. Interoperability is required for programming of devices and sensors that have capability to handle connected devices (Forbes.com, 2017).
It is an important segment of this report and here we will discuss in detail about issues of Internet of Things (IoT).
The main issues of IoT that we have noticed in forum are related to security, privacy, standards and development. It is responsibility of IoT developers to monitor and control these issues of security and privacy by doing all potential efforts. Besides this issue, another important issue that we would like to discuss in this forum is of data breaching. This issue of security occurs due to physical inaccuracy of IoT infrastructure. If infrastructure will not be strong then it becomes easier for hackers to breach information by using hacking, phishing and malware attacks. Besides this, physical inaccuracy of IoT infrastructure also increases repetition access of data and high risk of security violation (Prophet Thinking, 2017).
Various essential issues of IoT are discussed in this report that have become challenge to control or manage by IoT developers. There is also an essential reason that is not considered in forum is related to storage of data. Multiple devices are connected with Internet of Things (IoT) and huge data is transferred from different devices. If storage of data will not be done properly then it may cause conflicts in management and access of data. In this case, risk of insecurity will also be increased because cyber-criminals find opportunities to get weak storage system or network. With the increment in connected devices with IoT, this risk will be increased. To resolve this issue, some standards or policies are preset and according to these policies before storing any data, type of data and duration of requirement of data online will be checked. If data is no longer required then will be replaced. It means, only important information will be stored over IoT network (McKinsey & Company, 2017).
Development
The cyber-attacks on security and privacy on IoT devices and other threats and risk factors of security put great influence over real life of users. These devices contain personal and financial data of users in it. But if cyber-attacks will be implemented then users’ information will be affected. Hackers can access users’ information in unauthorized way by implementing cyber-attacks. If whole information will be lost then users will not trust to use IoT services and products. That is why, developers should use security tools and techniques to get rid of problems of security and privacy. This should be done at prior basis to keep trust of users or customers on IoT services (Network World, 2017).
From above discussion we learnt that whether IoT is beneficial to use at workplaces or for personal usage, but if cannot provide proper security and privacy to its users then it will be useless and IT users will not prefer to work with this technology. With advancement in development of technology, area of security and privacy should also be maintained. The security professionals should concentrate on this essential point and also aware users about security and privacy maintenance at their own level. In this report, relevant technologies are discussed to control issues or challenges of IoT. The appropriate implementation of these technologies will be helpful to get high level security. The monitoring of network channels that are used to connect devices to IoT and for transferring data will be beneficial for developers to handle network problems (Mitchell, 2017).
Conclusion
At we conclude that it is an interesting discussion about security and privacy issues in Internet of Things. Through this discussion in this report, we got to know various essential points about IoT, its challenging factors and problems. The main point is application areas of IoT in different industries are required to be secured. This can be achieved with the help of advanced security tools and techniques. Otherwise, risk of loss of data will be increased. It is common that users do not care about security and privacy of their content while using a particular service. So it is responsibility of developers of that service to fully secure users’ content. This is an effective way to achieve high level security.
References
Datafloq.com. (2017). Three Major Challenges for the Internet of Things. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://datafloq.com/read/three-major-challenges-internet-of-things/83
Forbes.com. (2017). A Simple Explanation Of ‘The Internet Of Things’. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#24a46e421d09
McKinsey & Company. (2017). The Internet of Things. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/the-internet-of-things
Network World. (2017). Preparing for the Age of IoT. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.networkworld.com/article/3026315/internet-of-things/6-critical-issues-facing-the-internet-of-things.html
IoT Agenda. (2017). What is Internet of Things (IoT)? – Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT
Meola, A. (2017). What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?. Business Insider. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-internet-of-things-definition-2016-8?IR=T
Datamation.com.(2017). The Internet of Things: 7 Challenges – Datamation. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.datamation.com/data-center/the-internet-of-things-7-challenges.html
Forbes.com. (2017). Forbes Welcome. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2017/03/20/6-hot-internet-of-things-iot-security-technologies/#480bac6e1b49
Roe, D. (2017). 7 Big Problems with the Internet of Things. CMSWire.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.cmswire.com/cms/internet-of-things/7-big-problems-with-the-internet-of-things-024571.php
Datamation.com. (2017). The Internet of Things: 7 Challenges – Datamation. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.datamation.com/data-center/the-internet-of-things-7-challenges.html
Mitchell, R. (2017). 5 challenges of the Internet of Things | APNIC Blog. APNIC Blog. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://blog.apnic.net/2015/10/20/5-challenges-of-the-internet-of-things/
Prophet Thinking. (2017). Interoperability: The Challenge Facing the Internet of Things | Altimeter. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.prophet.com/thinking/2014/02/interoperability-the-challenge-facing-the-internet-of-things/
McKinsey & Company. (2017). The Internet of Things: Five critical questions. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/the-internet-of-things-five-critical-questions
Olavsrud, T. (2017). 5 Key Challenges Facing the Industrial Internet of Things. CIO. Retrieved 13 May 2017, from https://www.cio.com/article/2872574/it-industry/5-key-challenges-facing-the-industrial-internet-of-things.html