Connected and Vulnerable: Deloitte Shares Top Five Tips for IoT Device Security

As Internet of Things (IoT) devices continue to proliferate, the onus is on organizations to put security at the forefront of their IoT priorities according to new recommendations from Deloitte. From cameras to toothbrushes, thermostats to hospital infusion pumps, connected devices are actively being targeted by cyber adversaries determined to compromise corporate and individual privacy, construct botnets, place malicious software and steal intellectual property.

Deloitte offers five tips to address IoT security in the products that organizations deploy in their environments and encourages manufacturers that make connected products to take a secure-by-design approach.

"The risk of compromise to a connected device is too great to ignore and often too late to reactively respond to," said Sean Peasley, partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and IoT security leader for Deloitte cyber risk services. "Organizations should adopt a proactive, secure-by-design approach while strategically and intentionally working to monitor and patch outdated legacy equipment, software and infrastructure."

California is leading the charge with a new Internet of Things Security Law taking effect on Jan. 1, 2020, requiring all IoT devices sold to be equipped with reasonable security measures. Consequently, organizations should prepare and protect their companies, customers and communities. The benefits of IoT connectivity far outweigh the investment in cyber measures to ensure the integrity of the devices, networks and programs.

IoT Device Security Best Practices

Take note of every endpoint added: The expanse of IoT increases with every endpoint added into a network. This adds more vulnerabilities and has become a more popular and destructive cyber attack. While the adversarial landscape is always changing, Deloitte advises organizations to bring as much of their endpoint footprint under their security management in order to better secure the attack surface. Industry analysts predict that spending on IoT endpoint security solutions will be more than $630 million in 2021. Once these devices are managed, integration of security tools can be a more effective security focus for the organization.

Align operational technology, IT and security: In addition to IoT, enterprises are managing multiple digital transformation initiatives simultaneously. Yet, according to the "Deloitte Future of Cyber" study, less than 10% of cyber budgets are allocated to these efforts. For companies to be successful with IoT initiatives, they need a new approach. One that helps them understand enterprise and cyber risks; develop a plan to prioritize and mitigate those risks; and then operationalize these efforts by obtaining alignment across key stakeholders: operational technology, IT and cybersecurity.

Know the players in your ecosystem: Since the interconnectivity of third-party hardware, software or services may be the source of a security breach, it's imperative to consider how a covered device interacts with such third parties. Ideally, contracts with third, fourth, and fifth parties should address security updates and concerns. Organizations should establish a third-party risk management program to evaluate the cyber risks of their third parties and supply chain partners.

Employ AI and ML to detect anomalies that humans can't: You can't prevent what you don't know about. Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) has grown from an emerging category to an IT necessity. AIOps platforms are uniquely suited to establish a baseline for normal behavior and detecting subtle deviations, anomalies and trends. This is significant as IoT turns much of the physical world into robots powered by AI. Organizations should take both a secure by design (DevSecOps) approach in tandem with an AIOps approach to both prevent and identify cyber attacks.

Conduct vulnerability assessments on devices: As cyberattacks continue to grow, organizations should have confirmation that their connected devices — and the environment in which they're deployed — have been designed, built and implemented with security in mind. Whether through basic testing or a bug bounty program, testing can provide assurance around the security posture of an organization's devices.

(For more information visit http://www.deloitte.com/us).