What Is IoT?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of things (physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators)  connected through internet which enables these things to exchange data. This creates opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, resulting in efficiency improvements, economic benefits, and reduced human exertions.

We are going to see IoT in everything. As per Gartner By 2020, IoT technology will be in 95% of electronics for new product designs.With the technology evolution surrounding the IoT, it will become increasingly possible to add IoT features to a product at minimal cost. As IoT is going be a major player in market and most of people and enterprise are also worried about security challenges of the internet of things. There are multiple threats and challenges of iot and how to face the iot challenges and solutions are identified.While security challenges in iot need to be sorted,due to challenges in determining security risks and exposure for IoT, current budgets for security spend is minimal.Most organizations already face information risks from Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In fact, almost 20% of organizations have detected an IoT-based attack in the past three years.

IoT Risks And Challenges:

We will list down the top iot security challenges in this tutorial.As all know security is one of the major problems with iot and key IoT adoption barriers for the enterprises.

Security and Privacy:

Security is an essential pillar of the Internet and one that to be equally essential and the most significant challenge for the IoT. As Increase the number of connected devices increases the opportunity to exploit security vulnerabilities, as poorly designed IoT devices can expose user data to theft by leaving data streams inadequately protected.A latest research claims that by 2020, 25% of cyber attacks will target IoT devices.

Major security issues in iot have been raised that the IoT is being developed rapidly without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved.Most of the technical security concerns are similar to those of conventional servers, workstations and smartphones. Security is the biggest concern in adopting Internet of things technology. As the Internet of things spreads widely, cyber attacks are likely to become an increasingly physical threat.The vulnerabilities include weak authentication (IoT devices are being used with default credentials), unencrypted messages sent between devices, lack of verification or encryption of software updates.

In a January 2014 article in Forbes, cyber-security columnist Joseph Steinberg listed many Internet-connected appliances that can already “spy on people in their own homes” including televisions, kitchen appliances,[185] cameras etc.Welcome to the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), where digitally connected devices are encroaching on every aspect of our lives, including our homes, offices, cars and even our bodies. To deal with all these unique challenges, there is a need for strict approach to security. A lot of users are ultimately going to compare the cost against the security.

IoT creates unique challenges to privacy, many that go beyond the data privacy issues, consumer devices such as tracking devices for phones and cars as well as smart televisions are capable of tracking your day today activities .The Internet of things’ potential for major privacy invasion is a concern.Consumers take a more active interest in protecting their privacy and demand IoT devices to be screened for potential security vulnerabilities and privacy violations before purchasing them.Consumers are increasingly worried about privacy risks and security concerns that outweigh the value propositions of IoT devices and they opt to postpone their planned purchases or service subscriptions of IoT devices or soutions. As Security and Privacy are major issues in IoT, Enterprises when developing their IoT systems really need to work on IoT security issues and solutions.

Regulations and Standards:

One of the key drivers of the IoT is data. The success of the idea of connecting devices to make them more efficient is dependent upon access to and storage & processing of data. Companies working on the IoT collect data from multiple sources and store it for further processing.Lack of proper Reguation and standards will open up the possibility for for privacy and security dangers. IoT regulation depends on the country. Several standards for the IoT industry are actually being established relating to automobiles because most concerns arising from use of connected cars apply to healthcare devices as well. Lack of standards and documented best practices have a greater impact than just limiting the potential of IoT devices.These are because of still early days for IoT in government and unclear business models, despite strong value proposition.Without the right standards to guide and regulate manufacturers the developers may design products that operate in disruptive ways and If they are configured or designed poorly, these devices may have huge consequences on resources they connect.

Existing and upcoming privacy laws, including the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will dramatically impact an organization’s strategy, purpose and methods for processing personal data in IoT.

Lack of Interoperability:

Another one of the main internet of things challenges is IoT devices lacking interoperability.With numerous vendors, OEMs, and service providers in IoT business, it has become really difficult to maintain interoperability between different IoT systems.Sensors and connectivity are the integral components of IoT. But not every IoT soutions are equipped with advanced sensors and networking capabilities to effectively communicate and share data between different builds and manafucturers. It will be really challenging to identify a easy solution for this. However from end user perspective this is a really needed capability in a IoT devices.

In short as part of this artice we have seen the iot security problems and iot challenges in the real world.