Enterprise Iot
Article | May 11, 2023
The evolution of internet-based market models has changed the way businesses operate. Present-day businesses know that data visualization in business intelligence is integral to competitive success. Therefore, businesses are now expanding their data and intelligence retrieval capacities. As a result, IoT (Internet of Things) data visualization is gaining popularity among industrialists and researchers across various disciplines.
In corporate finance, IoT-based efficient data visualization analyses data from multiple sources with the help of corporate analytics management tools and manages data quality for business intelligence to reduce the risk of leaks.
Impact of IoT Data Visualization on Corporate Finance BI
Data is everywhere— right from a customer's first visit to your company’s website until he signs out, all the behavioral patterns and data are tracked. All this data becomes useless unless it is utilized for a particular purpose.
Analyzing this data to predict future trends is one of the significant benefits of smart data visualization tools and technologies. It helps to slice and dice the data gained from different sources of different complexity levels to the minute granular level. Business intelligence utilizes these insights and the existing database to run risk analysis.
It gives an overview of your financial performance and the risks and exposures it faces. And if you switch the KPIs at the center of any dashboard, your entire team can instantly access the most important and relevant data.
IoT data visualization can measure big data on customers more efficiently, allowing organizations to add value to their customers. Customized tools will analyze your customers’ data and produce reports according to specific customer needs to help you get a deeper insight. Corporations can also utilize this data to better understand their competitors’ benchmarks.
Customizable IoT Data to Store Millions of Data Points in One Place
IoT collects millions of data from various complex sources. The data visualization dashboard contains multiple widgets that convert this data into various forms, such as line graphs, geographical maps, bar charts, pie charts, gauges, heat maps, etc.
This information, transmitted into multiple visualizations, helps organizations to unlock every piece of data into a valuable asset.
The Benefits of Using IoT Data Visualization
Businesses can collect, analyze and monitor a variety of data using IoT, such as internet usage data, video surveillance data, mobile app usage, and social media. It helps businesses to design products and provide personalized value-added services to drive better consumer engagement. Here are some key benefits IoT data visualization offers:
Unlock multiple insights across various verticals
Addressing important financial concerns proactively
Combination of multiple data sources into a single insightful dashboard
Multi-layered visual data.
Combines new data with the existing data to analyze new business opportunities.
Better performance on IoT data flow.
Analyze multiple data correlations in real-time
Improved Collaboration
Well-coordinated and efficient performance.
Cost reduction
Accurate data interpretation
Mitigate risk factor
Better decision making
Conclusion
Hands down, IoT data visualization intelligence in a company’s business operations will lead to better decision-making. But, before you choose an IoT data visualization tool for your business, you should know what kind of data you need to analyze and if you need any additional historical data. Because IoT services offer data visualization tools and techniques to analyze and monitor the data accordingly to predict future trends. So, it’s important to identify the goals before selecting a tool for your organization.
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IoT Security
Article | July 17, 2023
Explore the IoT security solutions for critical issues and proactive solutions for the safe implementation of connected devices. Delve into cross-domain interactions for secure data storage.
Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Significance of IoT Security for Safe Implementation
2. IoT Security Landscape
2.1 Emerging Threats in IoT Environments
2.2 Importance of Proactive Security Measures
3. Challenges Posed in IoT Systems
3.1 Cross-Domain Interactions
3.2 Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
3.3 Insecure Interfaces and APIs
3.4 Vulnerable Third-Party Components
3.5 Safeguarding Data Storage and Retention
4. Solutions to Prevent Threats
4.1 Secure Integration and Communication
4.2 Traffic Monitoring and Analysis
4.3 Robust Authentication and Authorization Protocols
4.4 Patch Management and Vulnerability Monitoring
4.5 Access Control and User Authentication
5 Conclusion
1. Introduction
1.1 Significance of IoT Security for Safe Implementation
The significance of IoT connectivity and security for safe implementation is paramount in today's interconnected world. Some essential points highlight its importance at both the business and advanced levels. IoT devices collect and transmit vast amounts of sensitive data. Without proper security measures, this data can be intercepted, leading to breaches of privacy and potential misuse of personal or corporate information. Implementing robust IoT security ensures the protection of data throughout its lifecycle. Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure is crucial as Many IoT deployments are integrated into critical infrastructure systems such as power grids, transportation networks, and healthcare facilities. A breach in the security of these interconnected systems can have severe consequences, including disruption of services, financial losses, and even threats to public safety. IoT security helps mitigate these risks by preventing unauthorized access and potential attacks.
Mitigating financial losses, ensuring operational continuity and preventing IoT botnets and DDoS attacks contribute to security as IoT devices are often integrated into complex ecosystems, supporting various business operations. In recent years, compromised IoT devices have been used to create massive botnets for launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks can overwhelm networks and cause significant disruptions, affecting the targeted businesses and the internet infrastructure as a whole. Robust IoT security measures, such as strong authentication and regular device updates, can help prevent these attacks.
2. IoT Security Landscape
2.1 Emerging Threats in IoT Environments
Botnets and DDoS Attacks
Botnets, consisting of compromised IoT devices, can be leveraged to launch massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks overwhelm networks, rendering them inaccessible and causing disruptions to critical services.
Inadequate Authentication and Authorization
Weak or non-existent authentication and authorization mechanisms in IoT devices can allow unauthorized access to sensitive data or control of connected systems. This can lead to unauthorized manipulation, data breaches, and privacy violations.
Firmware and Software Vulnerabilities
IoT devices often rely on firmware and software components that may contain vulnerabilities. Attackers can exploit these weaknesses to gain unauthorized access, execute malicious code, or extract sensitive information.
Lack of Encryption and Data Integrity
Insufficient or absent encryption mechanisms in IoT communications can expose sensitive data to interception and tampering. Without data integrity safeguards, malicious actors can modify data transmitted between devices, compromising the integrity and reliability of the system.
Physical Attacks and Tampering
IoT devices deployed in public or accessible locations are vulnerable to physical attacks. These attacks include tampering, theft, or destruction of devices, which can disrupt services, compromise data, or manipulate the functioning of the IoT ecosystem.
Insider Threats
Insiders with authorized access to IoT systems, such as employees or contractors, may abuse their privileges or inadvertently introduce vulnerabilities. This can include unauthorized access to sensitive data, intentional manipulation of systems, or unintentional actions compromising security.
Supply Chain Risks
The complex and global nature of IoT device supply chains introduces potential risks. Malicious actors can exploit vulnerabilities in the manufacturing or distribution process, implanting backdoors or tampering with devices before they reach end-users.
2.2 Importance of Proactive Security Measures
Security measures are vital for ensuring the safety and reliability of IoT environments. Organizations can mitigate risks and stay ahead of potential vulnerabilities and threats by taking a proactive approach. These measures include conducting regular vulnerability assessments, implementing robust monitoring and detection systems, and practicing incident response preparedness. Proactive security measures also promote a 'Security by Design' approach, integrating security controls from the outset of IoT development. Compliance with regulations, safeguarding data privacy, and achieving long-term cost savings are additional benefits of proactive security. Being proactive enables organizations to minimize the impact of security incidents, protect sensitive data, and maintain their IoT systems' secure and reliable operation.
3. Challenges Posed in IoT Systems
3.1 Cross-Domain Interactions
Cross-domain interactions refer to the communication and interaction between IoT devices, systems, or networks that operate in different domains or environments. These interactions occur when IoT devices need to connect and exchange data with external systems, platforms, or networks beyond their immediate domain. Incompatibilities in protocols, communication standards, or authentication mechanisms can create vulnerabilities and potential entry points for attackers.
3.2 Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
Denial of Service attacks are malicious activities aimed at disrupting or rendering a target system, network, or service unavailable to its intended users. In a DoS attack, the attacker overwhelms the targeted infrastructure with an excessive amount of traffic or resource requests, causing a significant degradation in performance or a complete service outage. Protecting IoT devices and networks from DoS attacks that aim to disrupt their normal operation by overwhelming them with excessive traffic or resource requests becomes challenging. The issue here lies in distinguishing legitimate traffic from malicious traffic, as attackers constantly evolve their techniques.
3.3 Insecure Interfaces and APIs
Insecure interfaces and application programming interfaces (APIs) refer to vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the interfaces and APIs used by IoT devices for communication and data exchange. An interface is a point of interaction between different components or systems, while an API allows applications to communicate with each other. Insecure interfaces and APIs can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to IoT devices or intercept sensitive data. Ensuring secure authentication and authorization mechanisms, proper encryption of data in transit, and secure storage of API keys and credentials, thus, becomes a challenge.
3.4 Vulnerable Third-Party Components
Vulnerable third-party components refer to software, libraries, frameworks, or modules developed and maintained by external parties and integrated into IoT devices or systems. These components may contain security vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit to gain unauthorized access, manipulate data, or compromise the overall security of the IoT ecosystem. Pain points arise from the challenge of assessing the security of third-party components, as organizations may have limited visibility into their development processes or dependencies.
3.5 Safeguarding Data Storage and Retention
Data storage and retention refers to the management and security of data collected and generated by IoT devices throughout its lifecycle. Safeguarding stored IoT data throughout its lifecycle, including secure storage, proper data retention policies, and protection against unauthorized access or data leakage, poses a threat. Ensuring secure storage infrastructure, protecting data at rest and in transit, and defining appropriate data retention policies include safeguarding data and maintaining the privacy of stored data. Failure to implementing strong encryption, access controls, and monitoring mechanisms to protect stored IoT data leads to this issue.
4. Solutions to Prevent Threatsc
4.1 Secure Integration and Communication
Implement secure communication protocols, such as transport layer security (TLS) or virtual private networks (VPNs), to ensure encrypted and authenticated communication between IoT devices and external systems. Regularly assess and monitor the security posture of third-party integrations and cloud services to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities. Organizations need to invest time and resources in thoroughly understanding and implementing secure integration practices to mitigate the risks associated with cross-domain interactions.
4.2 Traffic Monitoring and Analysis
Deploy network traffic monitoring and filtering mechanisms to detect and block suspicious traffic patterns. Implement rate limiting, traffic shaping, or access control measures to prevent excessive requests from overwhelming IoT devices. Utilize distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation services or hardware appliances to handle volumetric attacks. Organizations must deploy robust traffic analysis and anomaly detection mechanisms to identify and mitigate DoS attacks promptly. Additionally, scaling infrastructure and implementing load-balancing mechanisms become essential to handle sudden surges in traffic during an attack.
4.3 Robust Authentication and Authorization Protocols
Apply secure coding practices and implement strong authentication and authorization mechanisms for interfaces and APIs. Utilize secure communication protocols (e.g., HTTPS) and enforce strict access controls to prevent unauthorized access. Regularly update and patch interfaces and APIs to address any known vulnerabilities. Organizations must conduct regular security audits of their interfaces and APIs, implement strong access controls, and regularly update and patch vulnerabilities to address these effectively.
4.4 Patch Management and Vulnerability Monitoring
Conduct thorough security assessments of third-party components before integration, verifying their security track record and ensuring they are regularly updated with security patches. Establish a process for monitoring and addressing vulnerabilities in third-party components, including timely patching or replacement. Establishing strict vendor evaluation criteria, conducting regular security assessments, and maintaining an up-to-date inventory of third-party components can help address these issues and mitigate the risks associated with vulnerable components.
4.5 Access Control and User Authentication
Encrypt stored IoT data to protect it from unauthorized access or leakage. Implement access controls and user authentication mechanisms to restrict data access based on role or privilege. Establish data retention policies that comply with relevant regulations and securely dispose of data when no longer needed. Clear data retention policies should be established, specifying how long data should be stored and when it should be securely deleted or anonymized to minimize data leakage risks.
It's important to note that these solutions should be tailored to specific organizational requirements and constantly evaluated and updated as new threats and vulnerabilities emerge in the IoT security landscape.
5. Conclusion
Ensuring the safe implementation of IoT requires overcoming various security challenges through proactive measures and a comprehensive approach. By implementing proactive security measures, organizations can mitigate risks and maintain the safety and reliability of IoT environments. Overcoming these challenges requires organizations to invest in certain integration practices, traffic analysis, authentication mechanisms, encryption protocols, and vendor evaluation criteria. Overcoming IoT security challenges for safe implementation necessitates a proactive and comprehensive approach encompassing vulnerability management, monitoring and detection, incident response preparedness, secure design practices, compliance with regulations, and robust data storage and retention mechanisms.
The emergence in IoT security encompasses the incorporation of machine learning and AI for improved threat detection, the application of blockchain for secure transactions and device authentication, the integration of security measures at the edge through edge computing, the establishment of standardized protocols and regulatory frameworks, the adoption of advanced authentication methods, and the automation of security processes for efficient IoT security management. These trends aim to address evolving risks, safeguard data integrity and privacy, and enable IoT systems' safe and secure implementation.
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IoT Security
Article | June 27, 2023
Internet of Things, generally known as IoT, is a network of objects or things. Embedded sensors help connect and exchange data with other objects via the internet. IoT is often related to the concept of smart homes, including devices like home security systems, cameras, lighting, refrigerators, etc. With all this data being transmitted over the internet, it is easy for the data to be modified, deleted, or stolen, which can lead to an invasion, theft, etc.
IoT forensics plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity and security of the data being transmitted. Join us as we explore this fascinating web of devices and how you can get started in this vibrant field of forensics.
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Industrial IoT
Article | December 15, 2021
2022 looks bright for power optimization! The vibrant research and development in Internet of Things (IoT) is fueling the expansion of wireless monitoring solutions and enabling giant leaps in terms of low-power design. A longer lifetime for your batteries, and thus for your device, is a dream about to come true.
We have gathered some of the most notable power optimization trends that are getting us all excited for 2022…
5G, the next era of broadband cellular networks will offer improved power saving capabilities
The next wave of wider 5G cellular technology is designed to support various new highly challenging industrial use cases. These usually require increased hardware complexity and more processing, together with higher processing power. These requirements can raise power consumption quite significantly.
Smart power consumption and energy efficiency are thus becoming keys for the success of these applications and 5G technology.To that extent, 5G New Radio (NR) has progressed swiftly. The new 3GPP™ release is designed to significantly improve the performance, flexibility, scalability, and efficiency of current mobile networks. Improved power saving features now allow IoT developers to get the most out of the available battery capacity. This could make all the difference for new IoT use cases and efficiencies.
A new generation of sensors are optimized for low power technologies
New families of ‘breakthrough’ sensors, based on anultra-low power architectureare optimized for use in compact wireless devices. These sensors offer a richer set of functionalities and can be combined to create new insights (sensor fusion). One of the greatest challenges facing developers of these small form-devices is power consumption. Aware of these limitations, hardware manufacturers have been working hard to address them. Integrated circuit designs and techniques are now using less power while smart processing capabilities are enabling the sensors to intelligently manage sensing functionalities,delivering ultra-low power performance for best-in-class power consumption. The use of advanced Low Energy Bluetooth and wireless protocols (e.g. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or ZigBee Green Power) also allows the transmission of data to the gateway more efficiently compared to prior solutions, opening new possibilities for developers.
Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning and Edge computing are picking up the pace
The explosion in data volume and diversity is forcing organizations to rethink the way they process the information. Indeed, capturing, sending and processing the information in the cloud can be taxing for the network, the storage and the computing infrastructures which demands more processing power, hence the need to keep the transmission window as short as possible.
This has led to the development of advanced devices capable of collecting, processing and storing data autonomously before the data is sent to the servers. This concept is calledEdge computing. By reducing the need for data to be streamed through the networks, diminishing computing and processing costs,Edge computing contributes to optimizing power performance, whilst delivering quality data in a more sustainable way.
The rise of DevOps and new IoT Device Management platforms are contributing to better efficiency and better devices
The rise ofDevOpshas been swift. Derived from Development and Operations, ‘DevOps’ teams are responsible for making sure that the infrastructure is being maintained properly.With the help of IoT Device Management platforms—which are a central part of today’s IoT ecosystems— DevOps teams can better manage, scale and operate their fleet of devices remotely and reduce long-term operational costs.One of the areas that benefits from the rise of DevOps implementation is power supply optimization, as more efficient protocols such as Lightweight Machine to Machine (LwM2M) allow for device and battery monitoring, remote device actions and faster communication.
Harvesting technologies are becoming more effective
Power harvesting technologies include processes where energy from ambient sources such as the sun, temperature, movement or wind, is captured and stored to power wireless autonomous devices. Now gaining experience,harvesting technologies can exploit natural resources better than ever before.
As a result,the gap between the power requirements of embedded systems and the energy generated by energy harvesting systems is finally closing. Industrial applications for these technologies are still very limited, but coupled to efficient rechargeable batteries, they can present new opportunities for devices deployed in wild remote areas.
Power optimization tools are becoming increasingly exhaustive and reliable
Battery optimization is everyone's business and needs to be considered throughout the overall system performance analysis, from prototyping to deployment and on toward maintenance cycles.
Several innovating tools haveappeared on the market over the past few years and developers have now access toa rich ecosystem of tools to analyze their overall system performance.
Wisebatt for Saft for example can help creating a virtual prototype and simulate its consumption.Deutsche Telekom’s IoT Solution Optimizergoes even further. You can model the complete system to identify potential energy consumption issues or leaks. The system can not only recommend the right combination of power saving features based on your use case, but also can help you visualize how communication payload size, protocol use and communication frequency impact your battery life.
When at the prototype stage,Qoitec Otii solution measures in real time the consumption of your device at various temperatures, up to the measurement of the firmware and hardware operations without the need for expensive testing. These tools are constantly enhanced and improved to deliver better analysis and more accurate data.
With an increased awareness from IoT developers of the stakes of power consumption and the growing rate of low-power innovations, batteries are now able to outlive the devices they’re in. This opens the doors tomany new markets and applications and above all to more sustainable consumption patterns. When we told you the future looks bright, we weren’t joking!
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