The development and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is growing at a rapid pace. By 2025, number of connected IoT devices is set to grow by 50 billion worldwide. With sophisticated tools and applications, hackers have the ability to craft attacks on IoT devices, including autonomous cars, smartphones and home autonomous devices.
A next generation Cybersecurity course is the need of the hour. There is a growing need for an equally sophisticated cybersecurity framework with the increased dependence on interconnected (IoT) technologies. Cybersecurity experts should be aware of the future, by designing secure technologies with a new approach and mindset.
There is a drastic and constant change in the way new applications are developed for the end users.
In the near future, IoT devices would utilize data analysis and machine learning to discover interesting patterns and data. In the age of quantum computing and encryption, there is an urgent need to secure emerging technologies like IoT. As the dependency of consumers on IoT devices and the Internet are increasing by the day and in the near future, they are also vulnerable to malware, spam attacks, denial of service attacks on their home network or their shared network.
The emergence of IoT has been crucial for significant innovation in IoT devices. A serious attack on the distribution, development and maintenance process on IoT devices can pose a security and privacy risk to the end consumers.
Who will use IoT security?
Analysts have opined that over 50 billion internet connected devices will be in circulation by 2025, valued at a potential 8 trillion dollars. What was unthinkable less than a decade ago, has now become a reality, thanks to the stunning progress of technology.
In Industry 4.0, i.e. the present stage of the human society where digitization and automation is slowly, but surely, taking over human to human interaction, smart technology has minimized human effort, facilitating data exchange at a previously unimaginable speed.
However, with the amount of data being transferred and exchanged in less than a second, the major question that arises is regarding IoT security. Whose responsibility is it, and who will need to use it?
Organizations and enterprises that have switched to IoT are finding it increasingly important to ensure highest levels of security both internally as well as through third party developers. Major IoT platforms such as the IBM Watson provide security expertise that could ensure advanced security against challenges and critical threats emerging from the IoT landscape.
With smart technology enabling smart societies and Industry 4.0 facilitating the transfer of millions of data, IoT has entered the private domain, making IoT security a matter of immediate importance for humans in their day to day lives. Our homes are connected with IoT enabled devices, which means that they would simultaneously need to be secured against possible risks. With smart things becoming an integral part of our daily lives, the probability of risk rises manifold, making IoT security mandatory.
As the use cases for IoT grows, the amount of data stored and exchanged grows in leaps and bounds. By 2024, over a billion data entry points are predicted, making the protection of that data the top responsibility of the people, the organizations and the platforms making use of the systems.
why is it important to have an RCCE?
Just as there is an exponential growth of IoT devices in the market; there are equally growing concerns on the privacy of data. This vulnerability has made IoT security a dire necessity that requires immediate attention.
Internet-connected cars are also at risk of being compromised, as hackers can take control of the entertainment system, unlock doors or even shut down a moving car.
Wearables have not been spared either, as these devices could succumb to privacy threat as hackers use motion sensors installed in smartwatches to steal stored information or fetch health and fitness data from apps and health tracking devices.
IoT medical devices are among the most vulnerable, as hacking of such devices can cause much harm and even sometimes fatal consequences on the health of a patient.
what is the role of RCCE?
A cybersecurity engineer is responsible for ensuring the protection of the networking system from potential threats and prioritizing its immunity. As IoT threats loom large, the engineer should first and foremost be vigilant when it comes to tackling system vulnerabilities. Whether there is lack of encryption, unauthorized circulation of data or breach of privacy, the cyber security engineer should be able to enforce protection. For instance, he should be using secure connections at all times, enforce data security as and when it moves through cloud, ensure that data is encrypted, erect firewalls, etc, to avert the possibility of cyber-attacks.
The engineer's other duties would include creating platforms for IoT solutions, networking with experts, and creating and sustaining risk management processes that comply to the standards of qualification for cyber security. Everyday new protocols are added as different vendors wish to address challenges in their products enabled with advanced IoT facilities. It is the task of the cyber security engineer to understand the protocols and guide the organization through its hour of need.
Create software modules projected towards IoT solutions with the help of systems thinking principles. The principles will enable a more cohesive, holistic approach towards IoT solutions.
Collect and organize requirements and IoT traceability including features, patient data privacy, quality and compliance, and cybersecurity to facilitate compliant solutions.
Trace “external standards” qualifications for compliant solutions for hospital environments. In an age of growing interconnectedness, many hospitals opt to improve patient and physician experiences by utilizing wireless IoT enabled devices. However, healthcare facilities requiring IoT designed processes and applications stipulate rigorous regulations that need to be strictly adhered to.
Network with privacy experts to collect, organize, and work on strategies to enable compliance with international patient data privacy laws such as High Trust, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.
Ensure that all systems and operations are adhering to the NICE frameworks and that prevailing government laws are being followed. The NICE framework categorizes and describes cybersecurity operations, establishing a repository for cybersecurity work and engineers around the world.
Partner with the R&D Product Development organizations to understand their IoT needs, optimize investments, develop use cases, generate processes, and develop overall solution requirements including application definition, integration, security, and system configurations.
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