Did you know that the Internet of Things (IoT) devices can be a part of a cybercrime? Generally, the IoT devices are the day-to-day gadgets that can communicate to the internet and each other by sending or receiving data.
One example of such is when you control your washing machine or robotic carpet cleaner with your Smartphone. While it might seem advanced and effortless, this can be a source of a serious DDoS attack. Since these devices are already connected to the internet, the bad guys can use this opportunity and easy connectivity against you. The devices are open to attack and any hacker can do so.
Another common example of an IoT device hacking is when you connect your phone to your WiFi router. Hackers can easily exploit this open connection and access your information with ease.
How are IoT Devices Hacked?
All the cyber attacks on the IoT devices happen due to the ‘open’ connection. In this case, hackers can approach this attack in three ways.
First, they can deceive the victim to visit the attacker’s website. On this website, the attacker will control everything on it and try to trick the user into giving the website permission to access their computer. Another way is to discover the IoT devices on the local network of the victim. And the last approach is by taking control of the victim’s IoT devices using web-based attacks.
Regardless of which approach the attackers will use, the user/victim remains vulnerable and their information can be used by the hackers.
In general, the IoT devices are easily hacked because they are connected to the internet, which is open to anyone out there.
Why are IoT Devices Vulnerable?
One of the major reasons for the IoT devices being top targets of the hackers is due to the sad fact that they don’t come with built-in security. Obviously, this makes them vulnerable to any attack.
Another reason is that IoT manufacturers don’t usually prioritize security when making these devices. Instead, they focus more on the connectivity aspect of the devices. For instance, there is no system hardening. System hardening helps to offer a layer of protection to your computer and secure it appropriately. There’re also default and hardcoded passwords that can easily be manipulated by hackers. Furthermore, the IoT doesn’t feature a mechanism for updating software. In turn, this will create vulnerabilities to those devices.
Do You Need to Protect Your IoT Devices?
Precisely, yes you do. Without the proper protection, you might be a victim of an attack and your sensitive information will fall in the wrong hands. Furthermore, some of these hackers might only be in the need for spying on you and follow your personal lifestyle. That might not seem like you’re losing anything, but it is a very creepy and weird scenario to experience.
So, why would you opt to protect your IoT device? Let’s explore that.
One major reason for keeping your IoT devices safe and secure is because the attacks are becoming too much. Also, there are several vulnerabilities that hackers exploit to get to your IoT devices. One of the vulnerabilities is IoT Botnets.
What is an IoT Botnet?
An Internet of Things botnet is a set of hacked computers, IoT devices, and smart appliances that have been manipulated by hackers. Normally, these devices are co-opted for illegal purposes. In most cases, the hackers will manipulate these devices due to the computing power they hold. Furthermore, they are connected, which means that one device can transfer information to the other with ease. Plus, hackers find it easy to control all the connected devices at once because they share a specific network.
What’s the Solution?
The most apparent solution, in this case, is to get the proper protection for your IoT device. There is no better approach than going for an antivirus.
But, will an antivirus protect your IoT device? Yes and no.
Yes, the antivirus will work on the IoT if it is designed to run on it. And no, the regular antivirus will not run on the IoT devices because these devices don’t have enough specs to run the antivirus. Plus, they will not allow you to install the antivirus. So, how do you go about it in this case?
The only solution is to go for the antivirus that is designed for IoT devices. You can find some of the top antiviruses for IoT out there. But you must choose wisely. For instance, PC Matic Antivirus https://www.thetop10sites.com/antivirus/pc-matic/ is one of them that support IoT devices.
Which Antivirus is Suitable For IoT Devices?
You might wonder how there are antivirus programs for IoT devices out there. Well, not every antivirus will easily work on your smart device. Instead, some antivirus programs are designed to support IoT devices.
Here, you will find a regular antivirus that lets you install it on multiple devices. Here, they can have a dedicated smart TV or router antivirus. This lets you download it to your specific device and enjoy the protection against attacks.
If you are out looking for an antivirus to install on your IoT device, you must ensure that it can support that specific device. Some of the IoT devices that are supported by the antivirus programs include routers, smart TVs and even mobile devices. Keep in mind that TVs can be regular smart TV or Android TV. It is easy to find an antivirus for Android TV because the apps are available on Google Play Store. With other Smart TVs, you can go to the official app store of the TV and get the antivirus from there. Alternatively, you can download the antivirus from the official website and install it on your IoT device accordingly. When downloading the antivirus program, be sure to only use the official website. Using other websites might do you more harm because you could end up downloading the wrong software or even a virus.
