24 percent of critical infrastructure employees have already connected an Internet of Things device to their employers’ networks
LONDON, UK: Tripwire, Inc. has announced the results of an extensive study conducted by Atomik Research on the security of the “Enterprise of Things” in critical infrastructure industries. The study examined the impact that emerging security threats connected with the Internet of Things (IoT) have on enterprise security. Study respondents included 404 IT professionals and 302 executives from retail, energy and financial services organizations in the U.S. and U.K.
Key findings included:
Employed consumers working from home have an average of 11 IoT devices on their home networks, and nearly one in four employed consumers (24 percent) have already connected at least one of these devices to their enterprise networks.
63 percent of executives expect that business efficiencies and productivity will force them to adopt IoT devices despite the security risks; however, only 46 percent say the risks associated with IoT have the potential to become the most significant risk on their networks.
The 2014 Trustwave® Global Security Report (http://tripwire.me/1u2c9mS) identifies retailers as the top industry target for cybercriminals, comprising 35 percent of the attacks studied. However, nearly half of retail IT professionals (46 percent) were “not concerned” about cybercriminals targeting IoT devices on their network.
Only 8 percent of energy IT professionals are concerned about cybercriminals attacking industrial controllers, but 88 percent are not confident in the secure configuration of industrial controllers.
Less than one in four IT professionals are confident in the secure configuration of common IoT devices that are already on enterprise networks: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones (21 percent), sensors for physical security (20 percent), smart controllers for lights and HVAC (16 percent), point-of-sale devices (18 percent) and industrial controllers (12 percent).
Research firm IDC anticipates there will be over 28 billion IoT devices installed by 2020 (http://tripwire.me/1tHxq1n), up from an estimated nine billion today. These devices are expected to deliver an overall global economic value add of $1.9 trillion, of which 80 percent will be derived from services. While the IoT marketplace is lucrative, new devices will open additional attack vectors for enterprise networks.
Respondents were asked how prepared their businesses are for meeting the new and rising challenges of IoT growth in the workplace. The Tripwire study did not include smartphones, tablets or laptops because the security risks associated with these devices are relatively well understood. Instead, the study focused on IoT device categories already on enterprise networks as well as new device types that are at an inflection point in market adoption.
Devices categories included:
Printers, 3-D printers and scanners.
Routers, firewalls and modems.
Gaming consoles.
Wearable devices, such as smart watches, Google Glass™ and headsets.
Smart appliances, such as refrigerators and coffee makers.
Smart meters for energy.
VoIP phones.
Controllers for lights, heating, ventilating and air conditioning.
Chris Conacher, Security Development Manager, Tripwire said: “The reason many enterprises are relatively ‘unconcerned’ about the security of IoT devices is because they misunderstand the risk. They may believe they have ‘solved’ the security problem, when they have not. Alternatively, they may believe that there is no security problem when there is. Frequently, organizations believe that they have nothing of value that would interest an attacker – this is rarely true. For attackers there is always something to be gained, and they’re not always looking for data that has financial value.
Mr Conacher added: "From the theft of information or services that can be used to add a veneer of legitimacy to phishing campaigns or user credentials that can be used to gain access to a connection point from which to attack corporate partners, there is always something of value."
"The study highlights the need to be able to build security and identity into the Internet of Things in a standard way so that IoT devices can be on-boarded into whichever environment is required – home, business or national critical infrastructure. A plethora of cloud-based solutions unique to each manufacturer, suppler or even device will lead to chaos and insecurity, said "Paul Simmonds, CEO, Global Identity Foundation
Mr Simmonds added: “It’s far more likely that employees will be infected with malware outside the enterprise. Employees routinely use smartphones and tablets on untrusted networks. They download suspicious apps from third-party app stores and then connect to the corporate network over a cheap home router with dubious firmware. The risk of cross contamination from home networks can be very serious unless security controls are enforced. Unfortunately, most people assume that virtual private networks (VPNs) solve all remote connection problems, but this is just not true.”
While consumer-focused IoT devices present minimal direct risk to the enterprise, many of them connect back to a vendor’s infrastructure via the Internet to store user data. Successful attacks against these backend infrastructures provide attackers with user credentials and other information that could enable them to gain a foothold into an employee’s home network. From there it’s entirely possible for an attacker to install keyloggers or other malware designed to steal the user credentials necessary to log into corporate networks. In general, people seriously underestimate how easily attackers can move around inside networks once they gain access.”Craig Young, security researcher for Tripwire