How to protect your smart health connected objects?

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The number of attacks cybercriminals continues to grow. Between ransomware and phishing, both individuals and professionals face real IT security issues. Not to mention the increasing propensity of people to use smart health connected objects. This becomes a real challenge for cybersecurity experts. IoT or the Internet of Things is currently taking on a wide scope. Between IT security and IoT, how can we improve the use of smart health connected objects? Answers in this article.

What is IoT or Internet of Things?

In simple terms, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a constant trend towards connecting all kinds of physical objects to the Internet.

This can be common household items such as refrigerators and light bulbs, commercial products like shipping labels and medical devices, smart appliances and even smart cities that only exist through IoT.

More specifically, IoT refers to any device system that receives and transfers data over wireless networks without human intervention. This is made possible by the integration of simple computer devices with sensors in all kinds of objects.

For example, the "smart thermostat" of a connected home is often described as an IoT. He receives location data while driving, which he then uses to adjust the temperature of your central heating before your arrival.

So, you only feel a slight difference when you go from your car to your house. This is done without your intervention and the result is even better than if you manually adjusted the thermostat before leaving for the day or after your return.

An IoT system, like the one mentioned in the previous example, works by sending, receiving and continuously analyzing data in a feedback loop. Depending on the type of IoT system, the analysis can be performed by humans or artificial intelligence via machine learning. This is done in real time or over a longer period.

Taking the example of the connected home, the smart thermostat predicts the ideal time to change the temperature before your arrival by connecting to an application such as Google Maps. For example, it gets data on real-time traffic trends in your area, your travel patterns and many other things.

Where is the risk with IoT?

Despite the opportunities offered by IoT, many risks must be taken into account by using it on a daily basis.

Imagine that your home has an IoT device, in this case the smart thermostat mentioned in the previous example.

Most of these devices can indicate if you are away from home. If attackers or cybercriminals compromise the device, they could turn on the heat in summer or turn it off in winter when the temperature is below 0 degrees. Imagine the risks with a connected lock …

The risk would be unimaginable if it were, for example, a nuclear power plant or a data center using IoT devices to automate their controls. Hackers would be able to compromise them.

Understanding the complexity of the vulnerabilities and the severity of the threat they pose will become a huge challenge. To mitigate the risks, any project involving IoT devices must be designed for safety and incorporate security controls.

The reason is that IoT devices consist of a "hardware" part and another "software" part. The solution can therefore relate to one of them, which will serve as a basis from which it would be possible to prevent any intervention by a third party on IoT devices.

How to secure smart health connected objects?

For both professionals and individuals, there are IoTs that are everywhere. These are mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops).

Smartphones like tablets and laptops can collect data about their users. However, everything depends on the connection of the device in question to the Internet or to an internal network of a company.

Therefore, the first line of defense is to establish a secure line with strong passwords. This is essential, especially on IoT. With a weak password, a hacker is able to take control of an IoT device via its own interface or web portal. Integrating other lines of defense with other strong passwords can also slow the malicious intent of hackers.

Another option that is more viable in the long term: the use of a VPN or Virtual Private Network. A VPN is a way to disorient cybercriminals, because the connection of your IoT to the Internet goes through an encrypted line. This is one of the main benefits of a Virtual Private Network. If you are looking for a good VPN, you can opt for NordVPN for example, very famous (to know more, read the review on VPNpro).

All data transferred by your smart health connected object is encrypted according to military class encryption (eg 256-bit AES). In addition, it is impossible to determine the actual IP address of the IoT, because it is automatically changed, which further hackers hackers.

Many routers now allow you to configure a VPN, which allows you to switch the connection of all devices in the home (or company) by an encrypted connection, instead of having to do on each device. If you are interested in the subject, please let us know in the comments, we can make a more detailed article on this point.

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