How to protect your network from the rise of digital attacks

The Internet of Things (IoT) is redefining how businesses operate, offering incredible opportunities for innovation and efficiency. IoT devices now account for more than 30% of all connected business endpoints and enable businesses to improve everything from customer service to operational efficiency through real-time data analysis.

But it’s not just the business world that’s being transformed. Scientists predict that by 2025, there will be 75 billion connected devices in the world, meaning our daily lives will be ruled by these connected devices, from IoT-enabled fridges at home to multi-function smart printers at work.

However, the vast amount of IoT data now circulating on the public internet has created a wealth of opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit these devices and gain access to confidential or sensitive information.

In fact, IoT attacks are starting to feel like a deadly wave of attacks, with breaches increasing by more than 400% since 2022. Worse still, as more companies deploy IoT devices across their networks, more hackers will develop new and devious ways to exploit the weaknesses in these devices.

Therefore, it is extremely important to secure the network infrastructure against these threats to protect both IoT devices and the data they collect.

Cedric Mauvielle

Vice President of Global IoT and Partnerships at Console Connect.

The dangers of the public internet

In general, most IoT devices are designed at low cost, designed to have a long lifespan, and are deployed in as many locations as possible. These three factors—low cost, longevity, and ubiquity—make them vulnerable to attack. That’s a very happy mix for attackers.

For this reason, it’s important to raise awareness of the myriad security threats these devices pose to your network, as literally everything and anything in your IoT environment is a potential entry point for an opportunistic cybercriminal. This includes physical devices and other software-embedded objects that can collect or exchange data.

When it comes to actual attacks, hackers can use a variety of methods to significantly impact your network. Some of the most common methods include:

Distributed Denial of Service

DDoS attacks overload a network by bombarding it with constant traffic, such as fake queries or requests. This overloads the system, causing it to crash and cause a denial of service to customers and employees.

The man in the middle

MitM attacks involve hackers secretly intercepting communications between two systems. By becoming the “man in the middle,” the hacker can trick each party into thinking they are receiving legitimate emails or requests.

Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping attacks, also known as sniffing or spying, involve exploiting a weak connection between an IoT device and a server to “eavesdrop” on (and then possibly steal) sensitive data and information.

These attacks happen with alarming frequency because most IoT devices are exposed to the public internet, making them easy targets since that is where today’s attacks are coming from. The simple truth is that if your company is deploying IoT devices or thinking about deploying IoT devices, you need to protect your network from the threat of the public internet.

Sure, some companies might decide to invest in a ton of expensive software and hardware, but that won’t solve the problem in the long run because it won’t mitigate the threat from the Internet itself. Another factor to consider is the constantly changing regulatory framework for data privacy. How much will it cost to change your IoT infrastructure if these regulations come into effect? All those layers of different security and software updates could become outdated in a few years, and then you’ll have to redesign everything from scratch.

Sure, you can’t protect yourself from everything, but you can protect yourself from a lot of things, and you can do it very easily. After all, if you don’t have to expose yourself to the greatest danger of all – the public internet – then why do it?

Take control of your IoT network

Simply put, the easiest way to eliminate the threat of IoT attacks is to completely disconnect from the Internet, and the best way to do that is through private connectivity. In other words, a secure and dedicated connection for traffic between devices and clouds. Indeed, moving your network and all your devices from public networks to a private network allows you to secure the entire chain of infrastructure traffic. You can do this quickly, efficiently, and without losing business agility by partnering with a network-as-a-service provider.

NaaS (in short) essentially bypasses the public internet by using private routing that creates a virtual “full mesh” between different IoT network endpoints. Not only does it offer advanced security features, but it also provides a much more reliable network service for the IoT ecosystem, with guaranteed on-demand bandwidth to support large data migrations and intuitive redirection during peak usage periods in the event of a network outage or attack.

What’s more, a trusted NaaS partner will have cutting-edge capabilities that enable rapid implementation of new technologies such as generative AI models, giving you added flexibility and scalability to meet all your business requirements.

Best of all, you don’t need a huge budget or a team of brilliant engineers to make the move to NaaS, as it comes with simplified IT processes, automated network management, and a pay-per-use pricing structure that lowers your total cost of ownership – all without having to install, manage, or maintain any hardware.

But the real beauty of NaaS is that it gives you complete control and visibility over your IoT assets. This comprehensive control allows you to adapt to any changes in your business environment, whether it’s physical, regulatory, or mission-critical. Essentially, you can optimize and adapt it to your needs.

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That’s exactly what NaaS delivers – a more secure IoT environment with improved network performance, efficiency, and reduced latency.

Let’s be honest, the rise of IoT attacks isn’t going away anytime soon, quite the opposite. But wherever you are in your IoT journey, moving to NaaS makes a lot of business sense when you consider the rapid technological advances and changing regulatory changes that are sure to happen in the future.

By choosing a private connectivity solution, you not only increase the security of your network, but also free up your employees to focus on data analysis and the benefits of implementing the Internet of Things.

Introducing the best online cybersecurity course.

This article is part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel, where we showcase the best and brightest minds in the technology industry. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you would like to contribute, find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/send-your-story-to-techradar-pro