In this blog post, we’ll explore the convenience of the Internet of Things (IoT), which has rapidly become part of our daily lives, as well as the hacking risks associated with smart home devices, vulnerabilities in IoT security, and the challenges we face in addressing them.
If you look around, it’s no longer surprising to see devices connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. As the number of devices capable of connecting to the internet continues to grow, the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT)—which connects objects to the internet—is becoming a reality, evolving from the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) model. A world where we can check Google Calendar on our refrigerators or where a wristwatch monitors heart rate to autonomously detect and alert the wearer to physical risks is unfolding right before our eyes. However, just as technological advancements are often accompanied by unintended consequences, the connection of objects to the internet has also granted hackers access to them. We now live in a world where even refrigerators can be targets of hacking.
While IoT is used in a variety of fields, the one most familiar to the general public is the smart home. Home appliances with “smart” in their names—such as smart doors and smart refrigerators—can generally be considered IoT devices. Since the home is the foundation of our lives, there is a high likelihood that these devices will store users’ lifestyle patterns, personal preferences, and important personal information. It’s even possible that machines will come to know us better than we know ourselves.
So, what would happen if an IoT device that knows me so well were to be hacked? Starting with minor issues, you might begin receiving a constant stream of text messages advertising products related to items you recently purchased. On a larger scale, you might discover that someone else has logged into your online accounts. It’s even possible that a smart door could open for a stranger while you’re away. As IoT devices become capable of performing an ever-increasing range of tasks, they simply cannot afford to neglect information security.
So, it’s worth examining just how well these IoT devices—for which security is so critical—actually defend themselves. According to a technical blog post published in the past by the security firm Symantec, it was possible to hack into smart hubs—which serve as the central link for smart home devices—and, through them, control the operations of other individual IoT devices.
Here’s how Symantec hacked the smart hub. Smart hubs periodically update the software that controls their operations; they were designed to download data from a designated server during this process. However, because the security procedures for verifying whether the correct server was being accessed were not properly implemented, hackers could trick the system into believing their own server was the legitimate one and force it to install the software of their choice. This allowed the hacker to manipulate the hub as they pleased through that software.
Furthermore, once the hub was hacked, the hacker could easily control other small IoT devices connected to it, because there were no special security measures in place for the way IoT devices exchange commands with one another. You can think of it as being not much different from picking up the remote control from your neighbor’s TV, pressing a button on it to control the TV in your room, and having it work exactly as you want.
Why are they so easy to hack? Since the primary purpose of IoT devices is not computing, the sensors and controllers embedded in them have limitations when it comes to performing powerful security operations. Furthermore, because many devices run on batteries, it is difficult to secure sufficient power reserves. Additionally, since IoT devices come from a wide variety of manufacturers, it is challenging to assign responsibility for accessing and sharing personal information. Another factor complicating the issue is the lack of clarity regarding what information should be protected and under what access permissions it should be disclosed.
To resolve these security issues, there is a need to develop security technologies that enable secure communication while making the most of limited memory and budget, as well as common protocols that ensure any device can meet sufficient security standards. The “IoT-A” project, launched in Europe to propose a systematic and structured model for the IoT, represents one such effort to establish standardized protocols between devices and an architecture for interoperability; the project also addressed security and privacy issues in depth.
The IoT has already become part of our daily lives. Just as technological advancements bring new conveniences while also posing risks, security issues will continue to be a critical challenge alongside IoT technology. Without resolving these issues, it will be difficult for the IoT to establish itself as a secure technology. If you do not want to worry about the risk of hacking every time you open your refrigerator door, you must never overlook the security issues associated with IoT technology.
