#iotsecuritytesting

The Internet of Things is one of the technologies making yesterday’s science fiction the reality of today. It will act as a force multiplier for digitization and can potentially transform the world into a smart one - smart cities, smart vehicles, smart manufacturing, smart homes, and many others. According to IDC, spending on IoT by businesses and other entities is going to reach $1 trillion in 2022. Further, out of the projected connected devices of 29 billion by 2022, around 18 billion are expected to be related to IoT. And the data generated by these devices will be to the tune of 73.1 zettabytes by 2025.

In other words, ignoring the penetration of IoT across domains and not investing in its vast sweep could be detrimental to the competitiveness of business enterprises in the future. Even though the IoT will continue on its upward trajectory in use cases and device numbers, enterprises should take into account the challenges related to interoperability and security. Let us discuss the top IoT predictions that IoT testing services, or for that matter, the CIOs of enterprises, should acknowledge and incorporate in their value chain.

Top IoT Forecasts for CIOs to Recognize

As a smart technology, the Internet of Things is going to change the landscape of the digital world. The top IoT forecasts for the years to come are mentioned below:

# AI-based IoT data analysis: With IoT being adopted as a frontline technology by most organizations, there will be a need to gather, store, process, and analyze huge amounts of data generated by it. This is where AI-based data analysis will take over from traditional analysis wherein data mined by IoT devices will be analyzed for known patterns to draw insights about various aspects of an organization. AI is going to be applied to a host of IoT-generated data in the form of still images, video, speech, text, and network traffic activities. This should drive the CIOs of business enterprises to implement the necessary skills and tools to leverage AI in their IoT testing approach.

# IoT with legal, social, and ethical dimensions: With the increased adoption of IoT across business segments, a wide range of social, ethical, and legal issues may come to the fore. These may include privacy, regulatory compliance, algorithmic bias, and ownership of data, among others. In fact, the success of any IoT solution should not be based on its technical prowess or effectiveness alone, but on social acceptability as well. Hence, CIOs should review their corporate strategy, IoT and AI systems, and key algorithms by external agencies for any potential bias. In doing so, they may include external IoT testing services to not only validate the technical aspects of such systems but their social, ethical, and legal dimensions as well.

# Data broking and infonomics: According to a Gartner survey, businesses are going to include the buying and selling of IoT data as an essential part of their strategy. As per the theory of infonomics, the monetization of IoT data will be treated as a strategic asset by businesses and included in their accounts. CIOs should educate their staff on the opportunities and risks pertaining to data broking and set the appropriate IT policies, including incorporating mandatory IoT testing in the value chain.

# Transition from Intelligent Edge to Intelligent Mesh: The transition from cloud to edge architectures in the IoT space is underway and is likely to give way to a more unstructured architecture in the form of a dynamic mesh. The mesh architectures will lead to more intelligent, responsive, and flexible IoT systems, but with additional complexities. As a result, CIOs must prepare their organisations for the impact of mesh architectures on IoT systems. Consequently, the focus of the Internet of Things QA testing should be to ensure every aspect of the IoT and mesh architecture performs as desired.

# IoT Governance: With the expansion of the IoT space, a proper setup for governance, including an IoT testing framework, should be instituted. This is to ensure appropriate behavior in the generation, storage, deletion, and usage of IoT-related data. IoT governance would entail device audits, control of devices, firmware updates, and the usage of information delivered, among others. CIOs must educate their organizations on issues related to IoT governance.

Conclusion 

The Internet of Things will continue to expand and play an important role for business enterprises in areas such as data mining, analysis, and management, decision-making, privacy, security, and others. CIOs must make their enteprises ready to leverage the opportunities offered by the IoT as well as set up proper architectures, including IoT security testing, to mitigate any associated risks 

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James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies. I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality that yields strong results and always happy to create valuable content & share thoughts.

Automation has become the buzzword these days, with business enterprises going about adopting newer technologies to be competitive and profitable. The Internet of Things, or IoT, is one such technology that has the potential to transform the way we perceive and act upon things - such as driving a car using smart IoT technology. The technology has been adopted on a large scale, especially in industrial applications, as a means to digitally transform processes and derive a host of benefits. These include reducing effort and cost, achieving speed, accuracy, higher productivity, and efficiency. The growing fascination for such devices is driving the market crazy with a valuation of $520 billion.  Furthermore, IoT technology is expected to receive up to $1 trillion in investments by 2022 (Source: research.aimultiple.com).

All said and done, the downside to the breakneck speed at which IoT is being adopted across the board is the neglect of security considerations. Business enterprises, in their zeal to adopt IoT technology to drive digital transformation, do not always give the security of such devices and the network on which they operate enough attention. This leaves these devices with vulnerabilities, which have the potential to be exploited by cybercriminals to cause data breaches with dire consequences for all stakeholders. Let us understand the IoT and how to strengthen its security.

Understanding IoT 

The Internet of Things comprises everyday devices that are interconnected through the internet or other wireless networks and can be controlled remotely. Everyday devices are fitted with sensors and microchips that can send or receive data over the internet. This creates the possibility of these devices being controlled remotely. The use of IoT in physical areas like homes, cars, offices, and even cities has a transformational effect in terms of turning them smart. For instance, your alarm clock can read the calendar and sets itself up to buzz at the right time.

Why is IoT security important? 

The world is poised to move into a “smart” ecosystem where automation, in all likelihood, is going to change our lives for the better. However, given that the internet or any wireless network is the carrier for IoT “signals”, cybercriminals can hack into the devices or networks and cause havoc. For instance, hackers can penetrate the IoT network of any company to cause system downtime or spy on homeowners to garner crucial information. Since billions of devices are connected to the IoT network, it is important to develop and comply with security standards to prevent tampering or breaches. Let us understand how IoT security testing can help in establishing such a secure ecosystem.

Protecting IoT devices and networks from cyber attacks

As companies develop new products with IoT capabilities, consumers are simply lapping them up. However, this increases the possibility of cyber-attacks on such devices. Let us understand how the Internet of Things QA testing for security can prevent such attacks.

IoT penetration testing: In this type of IoT testing methodology, the QA testers try to penetrate the IoT network and devices by exploiting the inherent vulnerabilities with full knowledge of the management. With IoT penetration testing, QA testers check the security of such devices and find out the vulnerabilities as they continue to operate in the real world. It helps stakeholders understand the types of vulnerabilities or glitches existing in the IoT system and how they can be exploited by real threat actors. After knowing the vulnerabilities through IoT security testing, the loopholes are plugged, thereby strengthening the security of the IoT system and making it virtually impregnable.

Threat modeling: This IoT testing approach helps determine the threat model for the IoT system and how it can be breached. For instance, if an IoT-enabled camera is installed to monitor a house or spy on people within a specific distance, it can be breached by a hacker to gain access to the images captured by the camera. With threat modeling, the vulnerability that allowed the hacker to gain access to the camera is eliminated.

Firmware analysis: Firmware is a type of software that is used in embedded devices like sensors to execute a dedicated function. It can be found on devices such as routers, smart appliances, or medical devices. As with any other software, firmware can contain vulnerabilities or bugs that can be exploited by cybercriminals. Firmware analysis is a type of IoT testing approach that looks for security issues such as buffer overflows, backdoors, and others.

Best practices to secure the IoT devices or systems

No matter how robust the security of IoT systems is, if the people operating the devices are not thorough with the security protocols, hackers can gain entry into the systems. The best practices to be followed to keep the IoT systems secure are listed below:

Change default credentials frequently and use strong passwords

Implement a VPN with strong encryption to transmit and store data

Perform IoT security testing frequently

Change default router settings

Disconnect devices when not in use

Do not use Universal Plug and Play

Update firmware regularly

Conclusion  

With the rapid growth of IoT systems, businesses should turn their focus to securing these devices from any unauthorized access. They should be thoroughly assessed to identify and mitigate any security vulnerabilities in the code. Even though IoT technology has the potential to transform our lives for the better, it is critical to understand that it can have security risks as well. It is only by implementing IoT device testing solutions in the value chain that businesses can ensure the protection of data from falling into the wrong hands.  

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James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies. I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality that yields strong results and always happy to create valuable content & share thoughts.

The Internet of Things, or IoT, has emerged as a remarkable technology that can connect a wide range of physical objects or devices through the internet, such as cars, watches, refrigerators, thermostats, security cameras, printers, locks, mirrors, and speakers, among many others. It is capable of making science fiction become a reality and is futuristic in its scope, utility, and application. According to statistics, enterprise IoT spending increased by 12% in 2020 to an expected $128.9 billion in 2021—a whopping 20% increase. This spending is expected to grow at a 26.7 percent annual rate after 2021 (Source: IoT Analytics). Along with this incredible growth trajectory, however, there is an ever-increasing shadow of security risks that threaten to derail this ecosystem unless stringent measures such as IoT penetration testing are implemented. This is amply corroborated by statistics, according to which cyberattacks on IoT systems have more than doubled in the first half of 2021.

To quantify the numbers, around 1.5 trillion breaches have been reported between January and June 2021 (Source: Kaspersky). The immensity of the problem needs to be tackled on a war footing as there are millions of IoT devices in the world running critical systems. If some of these devices are compromised or hacked, the consequences can be terrible. To prevent such an occurrence, the IoT-based system should be tested from the perspective of an attacker. This is where IoT penetration testing comes into play by testing IoT applications to identify and mitigate any inherent inadequacies or glitches in the system.

What is IoT penetration testing?

It is the process of assessing and exploiting various components of an IoT system to identify and fix the underlying faults or bugs. The IoT device testing solutions thus offered can help to make the devices and components therein more secure. It uses social engineering techniques (from sending phishing emails to using unencrypted passwords) to gain access to the systems, databases, and networks. IoT penetration testing helps to gauge the company’s defences against cyber criminals targeting the IoT ecosystem by simulating or mimicking their actions. Here, testers try to target vulnerabilities in software deployment such as policy management, configurations, or gaps in interactions. The testing involves the use of both manual methods and automation tools to zero in on communication protocols, cryptographic schemes, and network infrastructure. As a part of the Internet of Things QA testing, pen testing ensures the transmission of information among devices is secure and the end-user does not have to worry about cyber threats.

What are the pen testing methodologies?  

The various pen test methodologies to strengthen the security of IoT devices are as follows:

Information gathering and analysis: In this IoT testing methodology, information related to the target system such as table names, database, hardware, and software used by several third-party plugins is tried to be accessed using techniques such as web page source code analysis, among others. The information gathering process is executed by identifying information from three structural layers of the IoT system, namely, perception layer, network layer, and application layer. The information to be thus obtained should be organized and analyzed with viable attack paths duly planned. Further, a validity check should be done on the accessed information to ensure its authenticity, completeness, and accuracy within the test environment.

Vulnerability assessment: After collecting data and information in the first phase of testing, any security weakness or vulnerability is identified, whereupon penetration testers launch attacks on the IoT system by exploiting the entry points.

Exploitation: During this phase of IoT security testing, an attack is mounted on the IoT system based on the attack paths planned in the analysis phase. Here, a DDoS attack is avoided to ensure the target’s availability. The various techniques used are skimming to read the node information, eavesdropping to obtain information between the router and nodes, spoofing to generate fake node data, cloning, killing the node, and signal replaying and hijacking, among others.

Result analysis and report generation: Successful IoT testing involving pen testing results in unearthing the inherent vulnerabilities in the IoT system. These details are documented and suitable remedial actions are presented to the owner of the system. The vulnerability reports can be customized as per the organizational needs.

Conclusion

The security of IoT systems is of critical importance given that a lot of sensitive and confidential information is transmitted between the devices within the system. IoT Penetration testing takes the approach of an attacker to identify any existing vulnerabilities in the system. It helps businesses to shore up their defences and assure the privacy and confidentiality of all information.

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James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies. I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality that yields strong results and always happy to create valuable content & share thoughts.

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) aims at connecting physical objects to the internet and allows them to provide different services to communicate among various objects. IoT aims at connecting each device to provide a universal connectivity. The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained a significant attention in past 2 years. It includes multiple domains and applications such as smart home, smart healthcare, transportation etc. The highly dynamic nature of the IoT environment brings new challenges and diverse service requirements offered to client.

Gartner, Inc. forecasts that connected things “… will reach 20.8 billion by 2020.”

IoT is an era of “Smart”, connected products that communicate and transfer tremendous amount of data and upload it to cloud. With an increasing pressure to deliver better services and ensure fast growth and competition, there is a need to access, create, use and share data from any device anywhere in the world to provide a greater insight and control over elements in our increasingly connected lives.

As these devices become more vital to our lives, the need to secure them is growing pace. Many are susceptible to vulnerabilities and may prove to be a threat on our own data and systems both in number and complexity. Despite this, devices without proper security checks are emerging in the market.

IoT is not just software but an entire system of hardware, software, web, and mobile interfaces. This ecosystem is not very mature and there are still major concerns waiting around IoT adoption primarily due to security threats. Security requirements in the IoT environment are not different from any other systems. Mobiles and laptops have dozens of software security solutions to protect them from attacks but similar security solutions are rarely present to protect the rest of the internet of things due to which security breaches are bound to happen.

The struggle is, most of the customers pay for products or services that have an explicit value and reason to purchase, complimentary features like security and privacy are not in the top priority list of their wants, and as a result business don’t put much effort into these aspects of their product. Customers don’t perceive any value in carrying out extra burden of cost on security features in lieu of primary functionality.

Vulnerabilities in IoT

Vulnerabilities have already been identified in multiple types of industries like automotive and healthcare, with specific instances where data manipulation or theft can occur. Examples include attacks on home automation systems and taking control of heating systems, air conditioning, lighting, and physical security systems.

Most hackers can access public and private web cams around the world by hacking into remote web cameras using advanced tools. Malicious hackers can also gain access to medical equipment to speed patients' heart rates up or down, or alter the amount of antibiotics provided to the patients by modifying the drug infusion pumps.

Security experts Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller grabbed headlines with their research on the vulnerability of connected cars when they hacked into a Toyota Prius and a Ford Escape using a laptop plugged into the vehicle’s diagnostic port.

Once a vulnerability is discovered, all the connected devices can be hijacked and potentially open their entire network to view and attack. Good example is Botnet like Mirai, Reaper, IoTroop etc.

Botnets have become one of the biggest threats to security systems today. Their growing popularity among cybercriminals comes from their ability to penetrate almost any internet-connected device Botnets can infect almost any device connected directly or wirelessly to the internet. PCs, laptops, mobile, smartwatches and smart kitchen appliances can all fall within the web of a botnet. Botnets are typically created to infect millions of devices and systems at a time. Unsecured devices make it easy for autonomous bots to find and exploit systems through internet.

Hence with the growing challenges of IoT devices, organizations should view security as a critical business consideration and work to improve their security attitude at every possible level. By incrementally improving security, organizations can effectively curb their risk of falling victim to cyber disasters. In fact, an organization should understand the risk and security requirements and decide how much security they want and how much they want to spend to build a robust system.

End-to-end testing of IoT applications will ensure higher consistency, integrity, and scalability, and provide rich experience.

Security must be addressed throughout the device lifecycle, from the initial design to operational level:

1.       Secure Booting

When the power is supplied to a device, integrity of software on the device is verified through digital signature along with the software authorization to run on that device and signed by the entity that authorized it.

2.       Secure Access Control

Device-based access control mechanisms are similar to network-based access control systems such as Microsoft Active Directory. In case someone hacks into a network using corporate credentials, the compromised information would be lim­ited to the areas authorized by those credentials.

The principle of least privilege dictates that only the minimal access required to perform a function should be authorized to minimize the effectiveness of any breach of security.

3.       Device Authentication

It is a must to authenticate a device whenever it is plugged into a network, before receiving or trans­mitting data.

4.       Firewalls

The device needs a firewall inspection capability to control traffic and filter specific data that is destined to terminate the device in a way that makes optimal use of the limited computational resources available.

5.       Updates and Patches

Security patches and Software updates must be delivered keeping in mind the conservation of network  bandwidth and the connectivity of embedded devices.

For a seamless operation of IoT devices, it is critical to have robust Security at both the device and network levels. This does not require a revolutionary approach, but rather a progression of measures that have proven successful in IT networks, adapted to the challenges of IoT and to the constraints of connected devices.

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