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The Internet of Things: Challenges and Solutions

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The Internet of Things: Challenges and Solutions

Cybersecurity Industry

Cybersecurity is essentially Information Technology safety and deals with the

safeguarding of data, networks, programs, and computers from unauthorized access. The

cybersecurity industry is projected to grow exponentially in the near future. Various

technological reasons will trigger this rapid development. Sinnarkar (2019) observes fittingly

that, “factors such as rise in malware and phishing threats, and increase in adoption of IoT and

BYOD trend among organizations are driving the market growth. In addition, the surge in

demand for cloud-based cybersecurity solutions is also one of the major factors fueling market

growth.” This economic sector was valued at 104.6 billion dollars in 2017 and is expected to

cross the $250 billion mark by 2025 (Sinnarkar, 2019). Despite the apparent prominence of the

Internet of Things (IoT), it faces many significant challenges. Arguably, the most detrimental

issues are security and privacy risks. Sinnarkar (2019) states that in recent times, problematic

developments such as the presence of malware and phishing threats in organizations have

proliferated. These threats are the main reason for the rapid prominence of cybersecurity

technologies. Therefore, most researchers stress that the capacity of modern scientists and

technology developers to find solutions to these issues is critical to the continued growth and

popularity of the IoT. Overall, the cybersecurity industry should grow adequately in the future to

address all the emerging issues.

Top Trends in Cybersecurity

As mentioned earlier, there have been several critical developments in the cybersecurity

industry in the recent past. The threats to the Internet of Things have increased along with the

development of cybersecurity solutions. This progression suggests that the importance of

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cybersecurity in modern society, especially for organizations, is only rising. One of the leading

trends in the said industry is the blurring of cyber threat attackers. According to Konings et al.

(2018), the concerned security bodies such as the FBI and the DHS, to mention a few, are all

reporting a pronounced collaboration between cyber attackers from across the globe. The most

affected nations are North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China. Another key trend is the increased

number of Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. Konings et al. (2018) report a rapid

development of social engineering based on cyber spoofing attacks worldwide. Most of these

malicious activities focus on payment of invoices to the wrong entities. Spear-phishing email

attacks have also been trending in the recent past. A majority of this illegal activity targets senior

company leaders such as CEOs and CFOs. The attackers often seek unauthorized control over

electronic transfer funds. Evidently, most of the cybersecurity threats in recent times target

organizations with the attackers seeking control over monetary transaction and other sensitive

data. All in all, the sophistication and level of cyberattacks are proliferating at a rapid rate, which

necessitates a corresponding development of cybersecurity solutions.

Internet of Things

Commutation technologies have developed exponentially over the years, which led to the

development and deployment of IoT to accommodate the rising demands. Sun and Du (2018)

state that IoT was first proposed in 1999 as method interlinking data sharing between different

devices. Currently, it has developed to become the central technology in our daily lives. The

technology has numerous applications, including smart grids, precision medicine, intelligent

transportation systems, and smart cities, to mention a few. Emad-ul-Haq et al. (2015) assert that

IoT consists of uniquely identified devices across the internet. In the past, the number of devices

in this wed was limited. However, recent technological advancements have increased this
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number in many folds. Notably, all the smart devices within the IoT have limited resources

regarding energy, processing power, storage, and memory. They also have identification tags and

codes, which facilitate their unique identification. S. aldeen and Qureshi (2018) state explicitly

that, “in IoT networks, the devices are controlled by existing communication systems and

provide more benefits to the user by making the integration between computer-based systems

and the physical world.” Therefore, the prominence of IoT is attributed to its unique advantages

such as time savings and essential learning opportunities, to mention a few. The massive

deployment of this technology makes cybersecurity unprecedentedly vital. Network security

solutions are important because they not only guarantee the continued operation of the networks

but also ascertain the safe delivery of services over the mentioned infrastructure. These demands

are, arguably the main reason why security has transformed in recent years into a novel service

like data and voice. In other words, users in the current IoT setup can buy a specific level of

cybersecurity based on the cost and their preferences. Summarily, the IoT has reached a point

where its advances run in tandem with the progression of cybersecurity.

Key Issues and Challenges

IoT is primarily a web-based information system and, as such, it also faces the typical

plethora of IT issues and challenges. Cybersecurity and privacy challenges are, arguably, the

most detrimental problems (Jayaraman et al., 2017 and Guillaume, 2019). These issues are so

impactful that they often disrupt organizations and can make attackers hold ransom the data of

entire industries. Researchers have proposed many security solutions over the years.

Nonetheless, most of the available mitigations deal with methods to protect IoT on the move and

in-store at the device IoT application, platform, and device layers. This condition presents its

own problems, which account for the continued prominence of cyberattacks. Specifically, the
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preservation of end-to-end privacy across the mentioned three layers. These shortcomings make

the preservation of privacy one of the leading issues in modern-day cybersecurity. Andrea,

Chrysostomos, and Hadjichristofi (2015) split cyberattacks into four distinct clusters, namely,

encryption, software, network, and physical attacks. This grouping is respective to the items

targeted by the malicious activity. Overall, security issues are the single most impactful cluster of

problems that inhibit the progression of IoT.

The infrastructure needed for the successful operation of IoT also presents significant

challenges. Regarding scalability, IoT applications that need many devices are quite challenging

to implement because of the constraints of energy, processing power, memory, and time (Jing,

Vasilakos, and Wan, 2014). For instance, the calculation of daily climatic changes across any

country demands the use of millions of devices, which may end up generating an unmanageable

amount of information. Furthermore, it is exceptionally challenging to standardize IoT

deployment with the excessive number of devices. These issues create loopholes that may

facilitate cyberattacks. The nature of IoT infrastructure also allows dark side behaviors that also

create security concerns. Cremer, Nguyen, and Simkin (2016) group these activities into four

distinct categories, namely: intelligence and knowledge-based; transaction-based; relationship-

based; and manipulative and integrity-based dark-side behavior. All in all, the current IoT

infrastructure creates several challenges that ultimately impact cybersecurity.

Recommended Security Strategies

IoT user across the globe can use any of a variety of security solutions depending on

accessibility and the nature of problems experienced. One leading strategy is the Game Theory,

which exploits the adaptive security concept. This method uses computers to decide on ways to

develop ways to prevent, detect, and inhibit attacks. In other words, machine learning and
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artificial intelligence can be used to solve some of the significant cybersecurity issues. Users can

also opt to use a PKI-Like protocol that encrypts the channels of nodes to their destination. In

this case, a key will be used for decryption and other security measures. Users can also choose to

protect their devices rather than their data using Radio Frequency Identification devices, which is

embedded in the devices used. This method allows devices to communicate safely with each

other and with humans. These strategies are, however, useless unless both the IoT developers and

users are trained adequately. Therefore, Aldowah, Rehman, and Umar (2019 397) state rightly

that, “Security issues and challenges can be addressed by providing proper training to the

designers and developers to integrate security solutions into IoT products and thus, encouraging

the users to utilize IoT security features that are built into the devices.” Summarily, technological

security solution, and the training of staff and developers are equally essential and should be

implemented together for optimal results.

Conclusion

The IoT is a network of many devices such as computers that are used across many fields

such as smart cities, and precision medicine, to mention a few. This technology has been adopted

extensively in recent years resulting in the proliferation of IoT infrastructure. This development

is expected to progress into the future. Despite, the massive uptake of IoT, it has generated many

challenges, most of which relate to cybersecurity. The main problems include security threats and

infrastructure issues. Many approaches can be used to mitigate these problems, such as the

application of machine learning. Nonetheless, they are ineffective without the proper training of

developers and users. All in all, the training of the mentioned parties must be implemented along

with the technological solutions for optimal success.

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References

Guillaume, C. (2019). IoT security: Real problems and solutions. Retrieved from

https://www.avnet.com/wps/portal/us/resources/technical-articles/article/iot/iot-security-

real-problems-and-solutions/

Konings et al. (2018). Top ten trends and key recommendations for 2019. BDO USA. Retrieved

from https://www.bdo.nl/BDO_NL/media/bdo/PDF/BDO-Cybersecurity-Top-10-Trends-

and-Recommendations-for-2019-GG.pdf

De Cremer, D., Nguyen, B., & Simkin, L. (2017). The integrity challenge of the Internet-of-

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Jing, Q., Vasilakos, A. V., Wan, J., Lu, J., & Qiu, D. (2014). Security of the Internet of Things:

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Jayaraman, P. P., Yang, X., Yavari, A., Georgakopoulos, D., & Yi, X. (2017). Privacy preserving

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S.aldeen, Y and Qureshi, K. N. (2018). New trends in internet of things, applications, challenges,

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Sinnarkar, M. (2019). Cyber Security Market. Retrieved from

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Andrea, I., Chrysostomou, C., & Hadjichristofi, G. (2015, July). Internet of Things: Security

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Aldowah, H., Rehman, S. U., & Umar, I. (2018, June). Security in internet of things: issues,

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