In the past few years, nearly 70% of organizations worldwide have dealt with IoT cyberattacks. As the Internet of Things (IoT) grows and becomes more widespread, these alarming numbers are expected to rise. Here are some ways to protect your IoT devices.
Strengthen all passwords
This is the easiest thing for people to do, so do it first. Set strong passwords to protect your IoT network and devices, and try changing them every 1 to 3 months. To help maintain all your username and password combinations, use a password manager to manage them. Furthermore, a password manager can help you ensure that all your passwords are not too similar or too easy to guess.
Protect your network
Consider improving your router's security. It connects your IoT devices and network to the internet, but is vulnerable to exploitation and attacks by malicious actors. Replace the default network name, administrator username, and password with a more robust alternative.
Next, check if you are using the highest level of encryption on your router. If your router does not support WPA2, you should consider upgrading to a newer router that does. You can also consider further enhancing network security by isolating the networks of IoT devices and personal devices.
Don't forget multi-factor authentication.
Depending on the desired level of security and the data types stored by your IoT devices, you may need to add more authentication steps to increase the complexity of your security setup.
Multi-factor authentication can include simple features, such as adding a smartphone to the authentication chain, or more complex features, such as physical authentication, which involves inserting a physical key into the device to log in. Sometimes, physical authentication may include verifying location or biometrics before logging in.
Update and upgrade software
Software is constantly being improved and changed. Updating software can bring a better user experience, but more often than not, it involves fixing newly discovered bugs and patching vulnerabilities in the code.
Encrypt your network connection
You can further protect your network connection by encrypting data transmitted over the network. This can protect sensitive information and safeguard against any vulnerabilities in your network infrastructure and settings.
Attempt to segment the network
As we mentioned earlier, if some of your IoT devices expose your network to greater security risks than others, then network segmentation might be a good idea. When segmenting your network, you divide it into multiple independent subnets that are independent of and isolated from each other.
To protect yourself, take all necessary measures, even if they involve more of your investment and time. If you encounter security issues, these issues may cost you more time and money than you have consistently and steadily protected your network.
