Millions of IoT Devices Get Exposed, It Won’t Be the Last

Millions of IoT Devices get exposed, and the researchers believe there could be more in the future. Over the past few years, researchers have found a shocking number of vulnerabilities in seemingly basic code that underpins how devices communicate across the world. A new set of nine vulnerabilities are exposing 100 million IoT devices worldwide. It includes an array of Internet of Things products and IT management servers.

All of the vulnerabilities available got discovered by the researchers by a rigorous approach. It got invented at the security firms Forescout and JSOF, which now have patches available, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to fixes in actual devices. “With all these findings, I know it can seem like we’re just bringing problems to the table, but we’re really trying to raise awareness, work with the community, and figure out ways to address it,” says Elisa Costante, vice president of research at Forescout, which has done other, similar research through an effort it calls Project Memoria.

Sometimes manufacturers don’t develop the mechanism to upgrade things, which can cost them aplenty. On the other hand, the researchers don’t know why exactly the manufacturing industries do not build the component. It is believed that they do not have control of the mechanism.

The researchers haven’t had any evidence of sorts to know that whether the attackers or hackers are exposing these vulnerabilities in the wild. But with hundreds of millions, if not billions, getting impacted worldwide, the exposure is far more significant than what was expected. The company and security firms are collaborating their efforts with the industries and the government to mitigate vulnerabilities. Just in case, the prominent sectors have found a company named Forescout to quickly identify and mitigate the threat.