Do you use a smartwatch? Use a fitness tracker? Do you have "smart" home devices? Or have other IoT devices? The majority of people reading this are quickly answering yes. In today's world, IoT devices have become a huge part of our daily lives.
Just as with most things, cybercriminals are extremely in tune with the increasing use of IoT devices and are focusing more attention to these devices, every day. In the first 6 months of 2021 there has been over 100% increase of the number of cyberattacks on IoT devices then in the second half of 2020. There have been 1.5 billion detected attacks on IoT devices since January. That number and the increasing amount of attacks is alarming.
Why is this important to you and your business?
While the cyberattacks on IoT devices may not make you concerned from a business perspective at first, it should. Red Canary recently reported "With millions still working from home, cybercriminals are targeting corporate resources via home networks and in-home smart devices too.They know organizations haven’t quite gotten used to the new perimeter — or lack thereof."
With more people continuing to work from home, there has been an increase of employees using personal devices at home, to log into corporate networks. So while cyberattacks on a personal IoT device may not seem as threatening, the reality is- an attack on a personal IoT device can be a huge gateway for cyber criminals to steal both personal and corporate data.
You may think your IoT devices does not contain enough valuable information to be worth a hackers time. But think again.
We highly encourage you, no matter the IoT devices you use, whether you work from home still or not, and regardless of if you use your personal device or a corporate device to log into corporate networks- to implement strong security practices.