The Internet of Things (IoT) includes items such as smart appliances, smartwatches, and medical sensors. For organizations to enjoy all of the benefits and convenience of IoT devices, enterprise customers must fully understand the potential risks and threats to their systems and the underlying data. IoT devices often lack built-in security controls, a situation which creates risks and threats for federal agencies and consumers.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing concern for today’s digitally-focused businesses. Every connected device you own can add another security concern to your list. If it collects and stores personal information and data, you’ve just added another attractive target for criminals to access your network. In fact, 57% of IoT devices are vulnerable to medium or high-severity attacks.

The number of cybersecurity incidents reported within the healthcare industry has been steadily increasing since 2015 as the use of IoMT has become more widespread. With increasing numbers of IoMT devices being used for patient care, the attack surface among hospitals and doctors’ offices has grown dramatically as medical technology continues to expand.

IoT devices are ubiquitous in our daily lives—whether it’s at home with connected home automation devices, or at work with connected factories, hospitals, and even connected cars. According to Gartner, there were over 20 billion IoT devices in 2020. As businesses globally over the past decade have transformed their processes with more embedded IoT-driven intelligence, these billions of connected devices have also become a soft target for cyber criminals.

The internet of things (IoT) is a highly developed space that is home to a vast amount of sensitive data, making it a very attractive target for cybercriminals. Threats and risks continue to evolve as hackers come up with new ways to breach unsecured systems -- posing a threat to the ecosystem itself. Let’s take a look at the leading threats and risks to the IoT and the associated vulnerabilities that must be secured.

NicheStack is a TCP/IP network stack commonly used in millions of Operational Technology (OT) devices around the world, including in critical infrastructure such as manufacturing plants, power generation/transmission/distribution, water treatment, and more. JFrog’s security research team (formerly Vdoo), together with Forescout Research Labs, recently discovered 14 new security vulnerabilities affecting the NicheStack TCP/IP stack.

The 2010 Stuxnet malicious software attack on a uranium enrichment plant in Iran had all the twists and turns of a spy thriller. The plant was air gapped (not connected to the internet) so it couldn’t be targeted directly by an outsider. Instead, the attackers infected five of the plant’s partner organizations, hoping that an engineer from one of them would unknowingly introduce the malware to the network via a thumb drive.

Appknox, a leading enterprise mobile application security solution provider has announced a partnership with ioXt, a global standard for IoT security and standardization of security, privacy, and compliance programs. With the alliance, Appknox will enforce the clients with a Security Pledge that focuses on the security of stakeholders, and devices in the IoT environment.

When it comes to evaluating technology in the home, there seems to be no shortage of new devices and shiny gadgets, mainly part of the Internet of Things (IoT), to discuss. Unfortunately, there seems to be no shortage of security issues to consider regarding these same devices, either.

The exponential growth of IoT devices in the energy and utilities industry has greatly increased focus on cybersecurity. Focus on cybersecurity across industries has increased recently, no doubt due to factors like COVID-19 forcing a jump in remote work. In 2020, we saw cybersecurity move from being a technical problem to a business issue.