Top 6 security risks associated with industrial IoT

The Internet of Things has rapidly developed over the past ten years, as seen by the entire world. Although this technology is already prominently used to power smart homes, outside surveillance, and smart lighting, it is also becoming more common in industrial settings.

Industrial IoT solutions have many applications, however there are security dangers involved with the technology.

Reasons why IIoT security is crucial

Every firm is better off taking some countermeasures if they are aware of the implications of the security flaws included in IIoT solutions. A security lapse in an IIoT environment could result in the loss of sensitive or confidential information about the company, such as product manufacturing blueprints or mission-critical machinery, depending on the scope of the application inside the organisation.

As an illustration, a security breach can cause the loss of shipment tracking signals, which would hamper logistics operations. Similar to this, if a hacker gains access to a company’s manufacturing network, it’s simple for them to tamper with the manufacturing equipment’s settings, which could lower the quality of your products.

Top 6 industrial IoT security risks

• Theft of data

An eavesdropping attack can be used to intercept data being transmitted by endpoint devices. In order to access protected information, the hacker in this case eavesdrops on your network traffic from the endpoint device.

When your endpoint devices are transmitting sensitive data, this type of vulnerability might have disastrous repercussions. The aerospace, security, and health sectors are those that are most frequently attacked by this kind of IoT attack. Your company needs to have a security policy that ensures all transmitted data is adequately encrypted using the best encryption software in order to avoid this kind of security risk.

• Device piracy

One of the prevalent IIoT security challenges is device hijacking. It might happen if an IoT sensor or endpoint is taken over. Depending on the sophistication of the sensors and how many devices they are connected to, this could result in major data breaches.

Your sensors can easily be compromised or hijacked, exposing them to malware and giving the hacker access to the endpoint device. Hackers can manage the production processes anyway they choose with this level of control.

By frequently updating your hardware and software, you may prevent this IIoT security risk. Deploying a hardware-based VPN solution, which is more compatible with outdated systems and helps secure data and IoT devices, is another way to reduce this risk.

• DDoS attacks on a distributed network

Endpoint devices within an organization may experience such a deluge of traffic over its networks that they are unable to handle the strain. A distributed denial-of-service attack is one name for this category of security concern.

A concerted DDoS attack on the entire system, for instance, could cause system downtime if an industrial thermostat is connected to an unprotected internet. Installing a firewall on your internet connection is one of the greatest ways to protect yourself from this type of IIoT risk.

• spoofing attack on a device

In the IIoT, a device spoofing attack takes place when the attackers pose as a trusted device to transport data between the centralized network of an organization and the IIoT endpoint device.

For instance, a hacker could pose as a reliable IoT sensor to feed back bogus data that might change a company’s production process. However, a hardware-based security solution can be used to manage this issue.

Theft of a physical device

Many physical endpoint devices used in IIoT can be stolen if they are not shielded from prying eyes. If these devices are utilised to hold sensitive information, this circumstance may present a security concern to any firm.

Organizations that often utilise endpoint devices should take steps to protect them, but putting sensitive data on them might still raise security issues due to the rise in endpoint assaults.

It is practical for enterprises to avoid storing sensitive data on endpoint devices to reduce the risk of device theft. Instead, they ought to store important data on cloud-based infrastructure.

Data breaches caused by outdated systems

The increasing use of IoT in various industries has made it simpler for hackers to identify security gaps and access organizational data. It is simple for attackers to use IoT devices as a point of unauthorized access to other resources because they frequently share the same internet connection as other systems in an organization. One successful attack on an IoT device can allow attackers to access sensitive information or data, making this lack of network segmentation potentially fatal.

This danger involves an attacker accessing the core network where sensitive and significant data is stored via an IIoT device. Additionally, hackers can target bigger corporate networks for data breach operations utilising these outdated systems because many businesses still use insecure legacy technologies.

It’s critical to secure the devices with hardware-based VPN technology and adopt a real-time monitoring solution that will continuously evaluate and report the activity of your connected devices in order to safeguard your IoT-powered organization against data breaches.