The Internet of Things has brought remarkable convenience to businesses and consumers alike. Smart building systems reduce energy costs. Connected sensors optimise manufacturing processes. Healthcare devices monitor patients remotely. But every device that connects to a network also creates a potential entry point for attackers, and the security standards of IoT devices lag far behind those of traditional IT equipment.
Default credentials represent the most basic and most widespread IoT vulnerability. Manufacturers ship devices with well-known usernames and passwords that users rarely change. Automated scanning tools test these defaults against every device they find, and the success rate remains alarmingly high. Botnets comprising millions of compromised IoT devices have been built entirely on this single weakness.
Firmware update mechanisms in IoT devices often lack the security controls that operating system updates take for granted. Many devices have no automatic update capability whatsoever. Others accept updates without verifying their integrity or authenticity, which means an attacker who intercepts the update channel can push malicious firmware to every affected device.
Communication protocols used by IoT devices frequently lack encryption or authentication. Devices that transmit data in cleartext expose everything they monitor, control, or report to anyone with network access. In corporate environments, this might include building access logs, environmental data, or operational metrics that reveal sensitive business information.
The sheer volume and variety of IoT devices make inventory management exceptionally difficult. Most organisations underestimate the number of connected devices on their networks by a significant margin. Printers, security cameras, HVAC controllers, badge readers, smart displays, and conference room equipment all connect to the network and all present potential vulnerabilities.
Expert Commentary
William Fieldhouse | Director of Aardwolf Security Ltd
“IoT devices often ship with security as an afterthought: default credentials, unencrypted communications, and firmware that never receives updates. Every device connected to your network is a potential entry point, and organisations routinely underestimate how many IoT devices are actually present in their environments.”
Network segmentation offers the most practical defence against IoT-related threats. Placing IoT devices on isolated network segments prevents a compromised device from reaching critical business systems. Even if an attacker gains control of a smart thermostat, segmentation ensures they cannot pivot from that position to access financial databases or customer records.
Regular internal network penetration testing identifies IoT devices that security teams may not know about and tests whether existing segmentation effectively contains them. Penetration testers frequently discover IoT devices that bridge network segments, bypass firewall rules, or communicate with external addresses that nobody authorised.
For organisations running IoT management infrastructure in the cloud, AWS penetration testing verifies that the cloud components of your IoT deployment resist attack. IoT platforms that aggregate device data, manage firmware distribution, and process sensor information need the same security rigour as any other cloud workload.
Procurement processes should include security requirements for IoT devices. Before purchasing connected equipment, organisations should evaluate the manufacturer’s security practices, update policies, and incident response history. Devices that cannot meet minimum security standards, such as the ability to change default credentials and receive firmware updates, should not enter your environment.
IoT devices are here to stay, and their numbers will only grow. Organisations that build IoT security into their architecture from the start avoid the painful process of retrofitting defences around thousands of vulnerable devices already embedded in their operations.
