Security Issues in Internet of Things Report

Question: Discuss about the Security Issues in Internet of Things Report. Answer: Introduction Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that refers to the use of interconnected devices in an intelligent manner such that the devices allow sharing of information and fulfillment of various tasks and activities. The devices that are connected to for IoT may be Smartphones, tablets, laptops, electrical appliances and many others connected over the Internet with each othe. The same has proved to be a growing trend in the recent times as it allows the ability to accomplish routine and complex activities in a quick and efficient manner. However, there are a number of security risks that have emerged in the world of IoT which can cause severe adverse impacts if not controlled. One way to deal with the security issues that are associated with IoT is to make secure and efficient use of cloud mechanisms for timely detection and prevention of such risks and attacks. Security Issues There are a number of technologies that may be used for the connection of devices to form IoT. These technologies may range from a number of wireless sensor networks such as sensors, microcontrollers, batteries and many others. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is another technology that may be used for the creation of IoT. All of these technologies have a number of security and privacy concerns in an IoT environment. These concerns have the potential to impact the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in an adverse manner and the impact may be low, medium or high on the basis of the type of information that it may attack. One of the most prominent and commonly seen security attacks that impacts the availability of the network is the Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Attackers introduce unnecessary traffic in the network path which leads to deterioration of the service quality and a final breakdown as a result. There are various types of DoS attacks such as jam ming, collision, selective forwarding, flooding and many others. There are various layers that are present in the architecture of IoT with three broad layers as perception layer, network layer and application layer from bottom to top in the same order. The security concerns for each layer are different. The perception layer comprises of RFID tags and sensor networks which may lead to the security issues such as malicious codes or defect of the tag itself. These malicious codes such as viruses, worms, logic bombs and Trojan horses may or may not be reproducible in nature and generally require a trigger to begin their malicious activity. Issues in the network layer are usually associated with the integrity and availability of information during sharing and transmission. Access control, identity control and likewise are the concerns that are associated at the application layer. Apart from the security issues in the form of security risks and attacks, there are also a number of challenges that may come up in terms of security of IoT. Technology is something that is changing at a rapid pace. There may be scenarios wherein the existing security infrastructure and environment may not be competent and sufficient enough to deal with newer forms of attacks. There are also issues with the system background that have been observed that lead to easier access to the attackers in order to execute security risk or attack. The negligence and lack of knowledge at the end of the user is also one of the major security challenges that lead to the variety of options for the attackers to gain access to the system. There are also silent attacks that are continuously executed by the attacker which go unnoticed as the damage caused by such attacks at a particular instance is negligible. However, after a certain period of time lead to a huge collective damage. Secure IoT Communications Cloud Network There are a number of countermeasures that have been identified and developed with the emergence of so many security issues and attacks in the world of IoT. The first and the foremost measure are to use stronger authentication measures in the cloud network such as use of stronger passwords, multi-level authentication, and single sign on, single sign off and likewise. There are also a number of cloud databases that are available for the data storage and management. These cloud storage options are efficient and offer enhanced security as well. Also, there are options such as automated back-up and disaster recovery enabled in these cloud databases which allow the security of the information even in case of a security attack on the system. The choice of cloud network also plays a significant role in terms of security. For instance, private cloud is always securer and safer in terms of the public cloud network. Encryption is one of the major techniques that can assure the safety of information in the IoT environment. Use of encrypted data while transmission of the same over cloud would ensure that the attackers do not succeed in retrieving valuable details out of the same even if they succeed in capturing the information. Use of encryption would prevent the network attacks such as session hijacking and spoofing. There is also a number of Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems that have been designed which may be installed over the cloud network to make sure that any of the malicious activity is immediately detected and dealt with. Such systems have proved to be extremely beneficial with DoS attacks. Conclusion Internet of Things (IoT) has allowed the users to connect their devices and make use of smart applications and services with much ease. The security issues that are associated with IoT can have severe impacts if the attackers succeed in getting hold of confidential and private information. However, these issues can be prevented, detected and controlled with due diligence and various physical, administrative and technical controls. Cloud network and architecture shall also be used with efficiently to ensure that the execution of security attacks is not possible for the attackers. References D. Evans, "The Internet of Things How the Next Evolution of the Internet Is Changing Everything", 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/ac79/docs/innov/IoT_IBSG_0411FINAL.pdf. [Accessed: 12- Jan- 2017]. T. Borgohain, U. Kumar and S. Sanyal, "Survey of Security and Privacy Issues of Internet of Things", 2016. [Online]. Available: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1501/1501.02211.pdf. [Accessed: 12- Jan- 2017]. M. Bhabad and S. 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