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Securing your Internet of Things: What business needs to know

  • min read
    • Today's businesses are full of things that connect to the internet, from electricity meters to lighting to fridges. In manufacturing and industry, networked devices monitor safety, productivity and maintenance needs, saving money, time and energy. What's not to love? Security for these game-changing IoT devices isn't getting enough attention, argues Chris Kubecka, CEO of Hypatec and distinguished chair of the Middle East Institute in Tomorrow Unlocked's video Internet of Things: When Devices Attack. In fact, poor IoT security has already claimed lives. What is the Internet of Things? IoT devices include any device that connects to a network. They're often called a 'smart' something – like smart meters, lightbulbs and printers. Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky, says, "The industrial Internet of Things could be worth a trillion US dollars by 2025. Companies like Airbus use IoT for predictive maintenance sensors in aircraft. It's high risk – devices not regularly connected can't receive updates, so are more easily hacked." "These devices are becoming common in homes and industry," says Kubecka. "But most are not properly security tested, and many use outdated operating systems. It's easy for attackers to exploit those and bring down entire businesses." What risks come with unsecured IoT devices? Kubecka describes how in 2014, the German government reported a fatal hack into the network of a steel mill. Attackers flooded the network, and safety systems couldn't operate. Three people were killed and many injured. Other attacks are more domestic, like one Kubecka investigated in Saudi Arabia. "A company bought a bunch of new smart fridges from a supplier that didn't security-test. A criminal gang exploited these fridges and used them for spam and manipulating the stock market." But cybercriminals can use anyone's data and systems for fraud and other money-making schemes, like mining bitcoin. How businesses can better secure smart devices "Makers and sellers of IoT devices must do their part to secure them," says Shabab. She recommends they audit code, test for vulnerabilities and let users update and patch devices themselves rather than updating remotely. Using security expertise helped smart prosthetic limb makers Motorica, who asked Kaspersky to review their device security. Kaspersky's researchers found several vulnerabilities, letting Motorica protect their customers by closing security holes. While IoT makers are getting more security conscious, businesses may already be full of insecure smart devices. Start with an audit of what's connecting to the internet, disconnect anything that doesn't need to connect and make sure connecting devices have strong passwords. If you supply IoT devices, use a secure-by-design gateway like Kaspersky IoT Secure Gateways (KISG.)
Smart agriculture and food

This new tech could help produce enough food for a population of 10 billion

  • min read
    • The UN estimates nearly 10 billion people will inhabit our planet by 2050 – two billion more than today. How will we feed them? With the current population path, global food production must increase by 25 to 70 percent before 2050. It may seem impossible, but 'smart agriculture' is starting to help farmers increase production, lower costs and conserve water. Sensors, satellites and internet-connected tractors Smart agriculture often involves capturing and analyzing data in new ways to give farmers information that helps them make better decisions. For example, smart sensors can give farmers detailed maps of topography, resources and soil temperature. They can use climate forecasts to predict weather patterns in the coming days and weeks – predicting weather is hard in the developing world because weather forecasting infrastructure is less developed. The benefits of smart agriculture's big data use are shaping today's farming more than we might think. Climate Edge uses data capture and analysis to help farmers in the developing world farm better. They're fighting common problems like lack of affordable farm insurance and barriers to joining cooperatives by providing farmers with sensors and data-analyzing equipment. When the challenge is to do more with less, data-driven agriculture has a lot to offer. Internet-connected tractors can ensure no waste through overlap when sowing seeds or spraying. Satellites can monitor crop health and sustainability. It's easy to see why IoT is a hit with farmers. Business Insider Intelligence projects farms will install nearly 12 million agricultural sensors worldwide by 2023. It seems this part of smart agriculture is here to stay. Artificial intelligence in the wild Soil quality is one of the biggest challenges in the way of healthier, more abundant food. In recent decades, agricultural output has fallen by up to 13 percent because of the degradation of two billion hectares of global farmland. Berlin-based agricultural tech startup PEAT is out to solve the problem of degraded soil. PEAT developed Plantix, a deep learning application helping farmers identify soil defects and giving soil restoration advice. It also helps identify and correct plant pests and diseases. Plantix uses deep learning to help farmers identify and solve soil quality problems. It's not all daisy chains and smarter yields, mind. Agriculture 4.0 could help us feed billions sustainably and fairly. But, as with all seismic tech shifts, there are risks. One of those is cybersecurity. The cyber risks for smart farmers These new technologies rely on data and internet connection, opening a world of opportunity for hackers and cybercriminals to disrupt the system. If compromised, smart devices, IoT and connected infrastructure on farms could be controlled from the outside. We could see severe consequences, like turning pesticide-spreading drones against their owners or rendering expensive equipment completely useless. Historically, agricultural sector cyberattacks have been few and far between. The US Council of Economic Advisers reported the agricultural industry experienced just 11 cyber incidents in 2016. That's not to say agricultural cyberattacks won't happen more in future. And it goes beyond farms themselves. Where smart agriculture connects farmers with logistics companies and consumers, disruptions to IT systems in those supply chains, particularly logistics, could have catastrophic effects. For example, delayed shipments could mean spoiled produce, leaving shelves empty and raising prices. It's happened before. The 2017 WannaCry ransomware and Petya malware attack on shipping company Maersk led to a complete IT shutdown, causing 300 million US dollars in losses and a stadium-load of missed deliveries of products agriculture relies upon, from food to fuel. The future of farming is in collecting and analyzing big data to maximize efficiency. With the right regulation and widespread adoption of smart farming, farmers could boost yields to meet incoming population growth. But with any advance in technology must be fully safeguarded before we rely on it.
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Secure Futures magazine is your go-to business guide for opinions, trends and insight into the world of technology and cybersecurity. We help your business to bring on the future. Brought to you by Kaspersky, the global cybersecurity experts.

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