Security analysis on consumer and industrial IoT devices

TLDR

The rapid growth of IoT and CPS has spurred widespread deployment of smart devices, raising significant security and privacy concerns. This study aims to analyze security vulnerabilities in commercial and industrial IoT devices and to promote low‑cost security solutions. The authors conduct a detailed security analysis of a home‑automation system and a smart meter, examining hardware, software, and network components to identify backdoors. The analysis reveals that security vulnerabilities are common across most IoT devices.

Abstract

The fast development of Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems (CPS) has triggered a large demand of smart devices which are loaded with sensors collecting information from their surroundings, processing it and relaying it to remote locations for further analysis. The wide deployment of IoT devices and the pressure of time to market of device development have raised security and privacy concerns. In order to help better understand the security vulnerabilities of existing IoT devices and promote the development of low-cost IoT security methods, in this paper, we use both commercial and industrial IoT devices as examples from which the security of hardware, software, and networks are analyzed and backdoors are identified. A detailed security analysis procedure will be elaborated on a home automation system and a smart meter proving that security vulnerabilities are a common problem for most devices. Security solutions and mitigation methods will also be discussed to help IoT manufacturers secure their products.