The Internet of Things (IoT) is taking over, with a projected increase in connected devices from 9.7 billion in 2020 to a staggering 29 billion by 2023. This growth highlights businesses adopting technology to improve their market position. 

However, secure, fast, and scalable IoT application development has its fair share of hurdles. In this article, we’ll dive into the common obstacles developers face when building secure IoT applications. But first, let’s review the essential components of an IoT application and the different levels of the IoT ecosystem that lay the groundwork for successful development. 

IoT Layers

Device: The device layer collects data and establishes an internet connection. While some devices may have simple sensors, many developers are creating more advanced machines for monitoring.

Ingestion: This layer consists of infrastructure and software that processes the data sent from devices, structures it, and stores it. We typically use cloud solutions at this stage to handle the heavy lifting.

Analytics: Data is organized and processed in the analytics layer to generate insights. This layer is seeing increasing use of Artificial Intelligence.

End users: When you hire IoT developers, they must focus on the end-user layer, which involves creating a platform for users to interact with the IoT solution and receive data.

IoT Security Challenges

Challenge #1: Lack of Standardisation

One of the significant security challenges in IoT is the need for more standardization. The vast array of devices, protocols, and platforms can make it challenging to ensure compatibility and interoperability, leading to potential vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.

Solutions

• Creating and adopting industry standards for IoT platforms, protocols, and devices may guarantee compatibility and interoperability. These can be requirements for communication protocols, data privacy, and device security standards.
• Organizations can get better security assurance for their IoT devices by certifying the platforms and devices that make up the IoT. This certification can also help determine which devices will most likely be attacked.
• Using an authenticated gateway is another solution to ensure the secure development of IoT communication between devices on the network. A secure gateway can encrypt communications, authenticate devices, and monitor network traffic for suspicious activity, ultimately reducing the risk of attacks and increasing overall network security.

Challenge #2: Insufficient software security

It is a common issue for IoT devices that run on embedded systems with limited resources, making it challenging to secure them adequately. These systems’ specialized hardware and software can create further challenges for IoT in ensuring their security, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.

Solutions

• Secure IoT app development methods, including threat modeling and code reviews during the development process, are available for organizations to use. This strategy can lower the possibility of assaults and improve the security of IoT devices.
• The integrity of the device’s software can also be protected by employing secure boot and firmware update procedures. It may ensure a device running the most recent firmware version has genuine and unaltered updates.
• Another solution is partnering with an IoT development company that offers a secure gateway, which acts as a central point of control for all devices on the network. This approach can ensure that all devices communicate securely, ultimately reducing the risk of attacks and increasing the network’s overall security.

Challenge #3: Insufficient Physical Security

Small size and ease of concealment make IoT devices susceptible to physical attacks, posing a significant security challenge to develop IoT applications. Such attacks can involve tampering, theft, or destroying the device, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information, system downtime, and data loss.

Solutions

• One should implement physical security measures like locks and cameras to guard against physical attacks. These precautions could include using security locks, tamper-resistant enclosures, and tracking devices with cameras.
• One should pack the devices in a way that makes tampering with them impossible until they reach their destination. 
• An important way to protect a device against physical assault is through regular physical security audits and updates of the most recent version of the software. This involves monitoring the device’s location, conducting regular physical security audits, and ensuring that all devices are updated with the latest security patches.

Challenge #4: Weak or non-existent authentication

It is among the significant development challenges in IoT, as many devices are designed with minimal security measures that make them vulnerable to attacks.

Solutions

• Organizations can overcome this issue by using robust authentication techniques like two-factor authentication, guaranteeing that only authorized users can access the device.
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) can authenticate all networked devices, and a secure gateway can further assist in guaranteeing that all devices connect securely.

Challenge #5: Insufficient Network Security

IoT devices are vulnerable to assaults because they frequently use unprotected networks to access the internet. Attackers may obtain sensitive data if they intercept communications between the device and the internet. These unprotected networks can also launch attacks on devices linked to the same network.

Solutions

One may achieve secure data transfer by implementing secure network protocols like VPN and HTTPS. With VPNs, it will be more difficult for hackers to intercept data sent between an IoT device and the internet. IoT devices that support HTTPS have an additional security layer added to their connection with web servers and clients.

Due to a secure gateway, every device on the network may communicate securely with one another. By authenticating devices, encrypting communications, and monitoring suspicious behavior, a secure gateway may lower the risk of attacks and improve network-wide IoT security.

Network segmentation entails breaking up a network into smaller sections or sub-networks. A company may designate a unique network section for IoT devices. This restricts the scope of an attack to only the IoT device section.

IoT device network security should also be at par. Regular security audits, upgrading the network’s security protocols, and looking for prospective threats can secure the network.

Challenge #6: Insufficient Data Protection

Inadequate data protection is one of the significant security challenges of Internet of Things devices face due to the large amount of data they generate and collect, making them vulnerable to attacks. This data can include sensitive personal and financial information. It can fall into the wrong hands and be exploited maliciously if not appropriately secured.

Solutions

There are many ways to keep data safe from attackers and ensure that only the right people can access it. One way is to use data encryption, which involves using robust algorithms like AES or RSA to encrypt the data both when it’s stored and when it’s being moved around.

Regular security audits are another solution to protect data. This involves checking devices for weaknesses and ensuring all software updates with the latest security patches. It’s also important to track the location of devices and ensure they’re secure.

Access controls are another way to ensure that only authorized people can access the data. This can involve using different security measures like multi-factor authentication or role-based access controls to limit who can see or use the data.

Conclusion

To sum up, while the development of IoT offers numerous advantages, it also poses various security challenges, such as device vulnerabilities, data privacy issues, and network insecurity.

To tackle these challenges, we recommend seeking assistance from an IoT app development company that can implement robust security measures, including device authentication, encryption, and regular software updates.

Also, it is critical to prioritize security when designing IoT devices, and businesses should set up a transparent and unambiguous data privacy policy. An IoT app development business can guarantee the safety and security of their devices and the data they gather and send by proactively addressing these security problems.