You might have a couple of new gadgets in your home or office that connect to the Internet. Depending on what these gadgets are, you could have a serious security issue sitting right in front of you without realizing it. Some devices that don’t normally connect to the Internet – also known as Internet of Things devices (IoT) – aren’t as secure as you’d like them to be, particularly in a business environment. The Internet of Things has some security flaws.
IoT Security Flaws
Users who don’t understand these security issues could unknowingly expose your business to threats. Insider threats are not always from outside the business, and sometimes simply not knowing ways to act securely can cause a breach. Internet of Things devices are notorious for their security faults, but these issues aren’t caused by the user. Some might place the blame on them for not doing their due diligence when acquiring the device and thinking about it in the workplace scenario, but the fact remains that the user can’t do much about it even if they wanted to.
This is primarily because many of the security faults found in Internet of Things devices comes from the fact that developers not designing them with security in mind. Think about it this way – the devices were made by those who have been making appliances for a long time, but they are just now getting involved with the actual software that allows for Internet connectivity. Therefore, they are less likely to make a device with security in mind compared to its functionality.
These devices are vulnerable to threats that would ordinarily be patched by the developer, but the thing about Internet of Things devices is that patches aren’t easily administered to these devices. It’s the responsibility of both the developer and the user, as failure to respond to this threat will mean that the Internet is less secure overall. Some have suggested making this kind of support required by the developer, including automatic updates and unique default passwords, but there is a significant amount of work that needs to be done.
Protect Your Florida Business
Florida Businesses need to implement measures to keep IoT devices from becoming an issue. Whether they want them to or not, employees will end up bringing in devices that can connect to the Internet, so business owners need to implement a policy regarding these devices. Going forward, a Bring Your Own Device policy that outlines how these devices are used and what data they are allowed to access will be critical to the success of an organization. To learn more about how to protect your Kansas City or Florida business from IoT devices, reach out to Symmetric IT Group at (813) 749-0895 and check out our information security page.
