Ensuring Network Security in IoT Infrastructures
IoT infrastructures are becoming increasingly popular, with more and more businesses jumping the wagon towards the future of business IT. At Acrodex, we are constantly keeping up with the latest trends in IT, so that we can provide the best IT managed services. Alongside that, we also try to educate our clients as we learn new things ourselves, focusing on transparent communication and mutual growth.
Now that more and more devices and data are being connected to the internet and made mobile, managing the security of these elements and their networks is becoming a growing concern. With that said, we share the follow article by Michela Menting that focuses on the fundamentals of IoT network security to help you get started on it:
ACHIEVING NETWORK SECURITY IN THE IOT
Security In The IoT
The network security market is experiencing a pressing and transformative change, especially around access control and orchestration. Although it has been mature for decades, the network security market had to transform rapidly with the advent of the BYOD trend and emergence of the cloud, which swept enterprises a few years ago. The market persevered, weathering the “end of perimeter security” claims and adapting to become more flexible and dynamic, reaching beyond traditional PCs and servers to new mobile and external endpoints. Those network security vendors that adapted are now poised to take full advantage of the IoT and the billions of connected devices set to revolutionize the enterprise.
Transformative Effect
Today the IoT is having a similar transformative effect on the enterprise considerably expanded the pool of connected devices that can now be found on a network, with the devices in play no longer limited to the PCs, servers, and smartphones with which IT staff are familiar. They now need to know about air-conditioning units and lighting sensors, fitness bands, and fire alarm panels. Despite the growing proliferation of IoT devices, most enterprises are still trying to discover these new devices. In fact, one of the most difficult issues enterprises now face is visibility; discovering new and unknown devices on their networks, and then establishing those devices’ identities in order to apply the appropriate authentication and access control mechanisms.
Raising Risk Profiles
Often, most traditional network security appliances are unable to identify new IoT device connections, and visibility into the enterprise networks is, therefore, significantly reduced. This becomes problematic, as unknown devices can easily become attack vectors and raise risk profiles.
The New and The Unknown
Identification and localization of specific nodes will become a fundamental issue with the billions of IoT devices envisioned to appear in the near future. Security vendors that are able to help enterprises overcome the obstacle of discovering new and unknown devices on their networks will also need to figure out how they can provide security features or, at the very least, integrate with those appliances that can.
With advanced technological benefits, comes growing security concerns, and all of which is followed by great confusion. That is why, it is always a good idea to look around you and your industry and keep up with the hottest topics out there. Right now, network security and IoT are definitely on the plate.
