Infographic: Possible Attacks on The Internet of Things

The folks over at Trend Micro have put together a nice infographic that reminds us that all those smart devices connected to the Internet communicate through some well worn channels, namely: standard communications protocols like Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth that connect devices to each other and the global Internet, as well as HTTP that are used to transmit data to and from cloud based resources like management interfaces.

Trend warns that many attacks that work on traditional networked devices work on IoT devices, as well. (Image courtesy of Trend Micro)
Trend warns that many attacks that work on traditional networked devices work on IoT devices, as well. (Image courtesy of Trend Micro)

Of course those standard protocols also leave IoT devices vulnerable to a wide range of commodity attacks: from brute force password cracking on web based management consoles to Man in the Middle attacks that can sniff out authentication credentials and hijack sessions.

Trend’s infographic does a good job of depicting the various layers in the IoT stack and some of the likely attack vectors for each layer. It also gives advice on how to protect yourself (use encryption, patch software vulnerabilities, disable unused ports). Nothing ground breaking -but a good take on an often understood topic.

Read more via Risky Links: Layers and Protocols of Internet of Everything Devices | Security Intelligence Blog | Trend Micro.

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