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Entry 1 - Defending the IoT

The internet of things, or IoT, is getting a lot of attention with the exploding popularity of smart home devices and general connectedness of the world in general, but what exactly is it and how safe is it?

What is IoT

IoT can be summarized as the network of devices equipped with electronics, sensors, software and connectivity that allows them to send information to, and receive information from other IoT devices. The super popular Nest home thermostat for example, is on the IoT because it senses temperature in the home, adjusts settings on your A/C or heating units, and relays this information via the internet to your mobile device. Beyond the home it utilizes information on weather conditions and forecasts from weather stations in the area.

Now example this small scale application of the IoT on an enormous scale. The thermostat is now controlling the heating and cooling in laboratories at the CDC. Any unwanted variation in temperature could have potentially disastrous effects on research and pose a safety issue. This is where the question of security truly comes into play. Once hackers infiltrate one IoT device, naturally they have the chance to continue along its network of connected device, turning one breach into many.

The Solution

Traditional IoT devices are built with minimal memory and processing power, so defending themselves from cyber attack is nearly impossible. One tool that hackers utilize in breaching IoT device security is called a botnet. Once botnets get on a device they kill off other malware and claim processing power for themselves, often competing with other botnets. The clever solution to defeat botnets then, is botnets themselves. By reengineering botnets to defeat any type of malware they encounter on a device, the device can be secured even without large amounts of memory or processing capability.

To read more on botnets and securing the IoT, click the following link to learn about MIT PhD student, Gregory Falco, and his unlikely path to computer science and urban planning.

Comments

  1. Laughlin AsheOctober 23, 2017 at 5:49 PM

    The threat of hacks into not only the affected device, but also any connected device seems very dangerous and like it could hinder the progress of IoT. Take, for, example, the Amazon Echo (Alexa) that can control your lights, your thermostat, your music, make phone calls, call ubers, and make purchases on Amazon. Does this mean that a hack into this one device would allow access to all of the related entities, including credit card information? Can botnets protect each aspect of the echo's capabilities at the same time?

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