Through Patricia mirasol

Employees working from home and IT teams have a shared responsibility when it comes to securing their corporate network.

A 2021 IoT security report from Palo Alto Networks, a multinational cybersecurity company, found an increase in the number of non-business devices connected to corporate networks over the past year. When compromised, personal IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as game consoles, heart rate monitors, and smart bulbs could be used to laterally access work devices – if both use the same home router. – which in turn could allow attackers to move to corporate systems.

“Remote workers should be aware of personal home devices that can connect to corporate networks through their home router,” said Vicky Ray, Unit 42 senior researcher at Palo Alto Networks, in a press release. “Organizations need to better monitor threats and network access… to protect remote employees and the organization’s most valuable assets. ”

Only half (51%) of IT decision makers surveyed with IoT devices connected to their organization’s network said they were segmented into a separate network from that used for business applications. Another quarter (26%) of those surveyed practiced micro-segmentation within security zones, a practice that separates IoT devices from computing devices and prevents hackers from moving sideways across a network.

The attack that worries executives the most (55%), reveals the 2021 report, concerns the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The IIoT enables “dumb” elements to become “smart” by equipping them with data collection sensors that help create business opportunities. Militarization and the hijacking of security cameras were also reported as a concern (46%).

BEST PRACTICES
Some of the IoT security tips recommended by Palo Alto Networks for enterprises:

1. Know the unknowns – Get full visibility across all IoT devices connected to the business. This helps to collect an up-to-date inventory of all IoT assets.

2. Perform continuous monitoring – Implement a real-time monitoring solution that continuously analyzes the behavior of all IoT devices connected to the network to segment the network between IT and IoT devices.

3. Implement “zero trust” – Zero trust is an approach to security that relies on the continuous verification of the trustworthiness of every device, user and application in an organization. An IoT security policy that aligns with zero trust is recommended to enforce less privileged access control policies.

ACTIVE PLAYER
Speaking at the SEIPI Members’ Annual General Meeting on May 31, Commerce Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the Philippines should become an active player in the global Internet of Things space. .

“Global trends suggest that software is now increasingly bundled with hardware products and gaining a larger share in the IoT value chain. Thanks to this, the strong software development skills of the Philippine IT-BPM industry, also export-oriented, can be a good source of technology, talent and knowledge through bonding and co-creation. of value, ”Lopez said.

There will be 29.3 billion networked devices in the world by 2023, up from 18.4 billion in 2018, according to Cisco, an American technology company. Its March 2020 white paper also predicted that connected home apps will account for nearly half (48%) of the IoT market share by 2023.