Why Ignorance Isn’t Bliss in IoT

Written by John Hynds

Why You Need a Credential Manager For Your Devices

Before joining Device Authority, I gave my home IoT security exposure very little thought, and  I continued to add to it. Now, I have a plethora of devices in my home including, Smart appliances, Wi-Fi lights and sockets, wireless security video, and Wi-Fi-enabled active home power monitoring, to name a few.

However, a review of several websites confirmed my fears, not one vendor has information about how they are protecting my network from intrusion via their internet-connected IoT device!

A 2016 tweet from Jeff Jarmoc @jjarmoc stated, “In a relatively short time we’ve taken a system built to resist destruction by nuclear weapons and made it vulnerable to toasters.”

I’d love to say, “Not my toaster or clothes dryer,” but frankly, I have no idea what these IoT vendors have done, and , I have zero assurance that they have done anything to keep my home from becoming a bot farm. Let alone intrusions into my family PCs and personal information.

Suppose this is my house with a handful of potential IoT bots. What about a hospital, a factory, or a moving vehicle?

Realistically, there must be a clear explanation of the security posture for every IoT device, or we could be, unwittingly, opening up our personal and professional networks to potential attack.

But what can we do to protect these devices if security has not been built in by the manufacturer of these devices that we have come to rely on?

Device Authority’s Credential Manager has its entire credential lifecycle fully and automatically managed, meaning that you can be sure that your devices are not communicating with anything that the manufacturer did not intend.

If you manage and operate IoT devices on your network and you would like to know more about Credential Management solutions please get in touch via sales@deviceauthority.com