£200k government funding to secure IoT devices

Many UK businesses rely on enterprise IoT products that connect to the internet, such as printers, cameras and room booking systems. The government is now funding research to uncover potential vulnerabilities of these ‘smart’ devices and assess their cyber resilience.

Smart devices in the workplace can collect sensitive data which can be accessed by other users, making them an attractive target for cyber criminals. While devices may have some protections built in, products with poor cybersecurity can leave companies using them at risk.

Steven Furnell, IEEE senior member and professor of cyber security at Nottingham University, said that people are often less mindful of security risks posed by IoT devices and the fact that they are storing and communicating data in the same way as traditional computing devices.

“Most IoT devices are not doing any ongoing checks on who is using them, they are set up and can then be controlled equally by anyone, albeit maybe with a password or PIN required to get into the ‘Settings’ menu,” he commented.