Security: Connecting Smart Devices to Networks

Connecting different smart devices to your office network can make your business more vulnerable to security threats, an expert has claimed.

14:55 13 March 2018

Ken Munro, a security researcher at ethical hacking company Pen Test Partners, has identified one of the common mistakes that make businesses more vulnerable to security threats – connecting different smart devices to their office network.

 

He says that a building full of printers, coffee makers, vending machine and computers connected to a WiFi network provide hackers more routes to carry their attack. He says: "We've seen vending machines that have just been jacked into the corporate wired network and become a backdoor,"

 

Insecure devices, such as smart speakers that are packed with sensors and microphones, are particularly more dangerous because they could be used to snoop on your business and steal its secrets. Munro said that in such cases, spotting a rouge device early on is extremely important but could be a difficult task.

 

"It would be very difficult; how would you see the exfiltration? You'd have to be absolutely certain that you were monitoring all the data going out from your smart devices. How would you spot it? Would you even know that someone had connected a smart device to your network?"

 

In the end, he advises: "Go and find that stealth tech. What is plugged into your network that you don't know about? Go and look hard at your coffee machines and your vending machines and see what they're plugged into. Go under the stairs, get access to the power cabinets and ask the facilities guys what's in there. Get your hands dirty."