IoT devices have increased cybersecurity concerns manifolds. Since everything that’s running on the internet is susceptible to malware, virus, and phishing threats, there’s a lot more effort that’s required to reduce the risk of a cyber security breach. If hacked, the damage goes beyond imagination. There’s a risk of identity theft when individual users are attacked, and when an organization suffers, the monetary losses can range up to billions of dollars. Therefore, you must veil all devices on the web in a way that unethical hackers cannot find any room exploit any vulnerability. Some such techniques are listed below.

  1. Install Primary Security Layers

The 3 primary security layers that every single IoT must have include;

  • A strong backdoor password
  • A strong firewall
  • A strong anti-virus

These are the basic necessities that can protect your sensitive information from falling at the hands of cybercriminals.

  1. Fix Bugs

Bugs are vulnerabilities in the software code. They can be minor as well as major and are certainly the sources that unethical hackers target to release malware in a network. Thus, patching them is necessary.

  • Constantly upgrade the software by installing updates released by the software manufacturers.
  • Run internal testing scans to remove bugs hidden in the cloud and system storage.
  • Delete old and unmaintained files since they are the most buggy pieces that can be exploited.

One advanced way that’s highly recommended for software manufacturers and companies (not the end-users) is running a bug bounty program.

The bug bounty program is the hunt for ethical hackers who can test a particular software and find out if it has bugs. You have to provide a bounty in the exchange of their services and the bounty can be as low or as high as you want.

  1. Adopt Network Segmentation Technique

Instead of patching all the systems in the company on one single network, you must focus on forming multiple independent networks. In this way, the systems in one network will be entirely unrelated to the systems in the other networks. As a result, if a system falls to malware hacking, the malware will be curtailed within the network that the corrupted system runs on. It’s the most effective way to reduce malware damage. However, the extent of damage will depend on the following few things.

  • You need to have a response team that can identify the malware quickly and take the necessary steps to prevent its spread.
  • You must have a faster communication system that can be used to inform the entire staff to disengage from their system as once.