Securing the Internet of Things

IoT devices are the "open door" through which any hacker, botnet or wannabe with malicious intent can wreck havoc on enterprise and government systems. Also, as we saw back in September 2016 with the now infamous Mirai, they could even bring down a large portion of the internet! These 2 sentences alone should be enough to cause you to pause before installing any IoT device and consider one of two options:

1. Forever swear off anything "IoT" until and at such time as these devices have been developed with security as job #1 (and certified by an independent rating agency...more on that in another post)
2. You recognize and accept that IoT device manufacturers will continue to put market share and profits before security so it's up to you to figure out how to secure your IoT deployments.

Let's get one thing very, very clear. Most IoT devices being sold and deployed today are NOT adequately (if at all) secure. Whether we're talking about that baby cam, smart thermostat or your new IoT refrigerator that warns you when milk is low to the array of sensors monitoring your remote service sites or drone operations, you're exposed!

Mirai is scary, very scary. To get an overview of just how bad Mirai is and can be, check out this Krebs on Security article:

So what do you do? Number one above is obviously not a course of action to take. You can't ignore technology because of fear or an unwillingness to put forth the effort to find your own security solutions.

Thankfully, a company called Bitdefender has delivered on the second option with their upcoming Bitdefender Box Gen 2 (known as Box 2).

First off, credit needs to go where it is due. If not for my daughter, Makayla, I probably would have missed this new product. Thankfully, she was hired to help out in the Bitdefender booth at CES2017 and invited her brother Alec (whose a Security Engineer with a leading Cyber Security company) and myself to see a presentation in their booth. Easily, the best moment of the show!

The security of IoT devices is not only a "today" problem. The manufacture of IoT devices is escalating at an exponential rate. Even if CISCO's famed prediction of 50 billion connected devices by 2020 falls short, the actual amount will still be a massive number. Unfortunately, unless or until some form of government/industry/self-regulation/rating system is imposed, it's likely that IoT device manufacturers will continue to ignore the importance of device-level security.

What Box 2 does is centralize security outside the devices. That is the only solution in an environment where there are NO required IoT device security standards.

Bluntly, you cannot trust the device!

So put Bitdefender's Box between the devices and the internet as a "great wall" against botnets, intrusions, hack attempts, etc. This "box" is literally security for Internet of Things devices. It can be applied anywhere you have anything connected to the internet. From cameras and baby monitors to the smart fridge or garage door and even your smartphone, laptop, and tablet, Box 2 protects them all.

Device-level security is no longer a concern with the Box. Box 2 will include machine learning and intrusion prevention technology to continuously monitor and identify threats, highlight security issues, look for unsafe behavior, block hacking attempts and take immediate corrective action.

Box 2 will deliver the solution to securing IoT devices. It should be available in the 3rd quarter 2017. They have set up a landing page where you can subscribe to receive updates on Box 2's availability:

One final comment to consider: Security is YOUR responsibility. Whether your family, home, business, car or finances you must be proactive in protecting what you value. The same goes for your technology. Secure it today so you can comfortably enjoy the benefits of this amazing ecosystem called the IoT.

Full disclosure: I am not connected to Bitdefender in any way nor am receiving any compensation for this article. My daughter is not an employee of the company (although I have suggested she pursue a career in Cyber Security as her brother did....great industry!).