Internet of Things Security and Forensics Concern and Challenges
Internet of Things Security and Forensics Concern and Challenges
ORCID: 0000-0001-6058-5440
Abstract— The Internet of Things is an emerging technology security on using wireless system invites cyber attackers. The
for recent marketplace. In IoT, the heterogeneous devices are cyber attackers not only steal the data and hack the system but
connected through the medium of the Internet for seamless also use IoT devices to attack other systems. Thus, IoT
communication. The devices used in IoT are resource- security is required for providing logical and physical security
constrained in terms of memory, power and processing. Due to assurance for IoT devices and its eco-system.
that, IoT system is unable to implement hi-end security for
malicious cyber-attacks. The recent era is all about connecting The cyber attackers breach the security of IoT system with
IoT devices in various domains like medical, agriculture, various types of malicious attacks [7]. The IoT forensics is the
transport, power, manufacturing, supply chain, education, etc. legal investigation of any cyber-crime and it collects and
and thus need to be prevented from attacks and analyzed after analyses the evidences of crime by reconstructing the events
attacks for legal action. The legal analysis of IoT data, devices ofcyber-attack [8]. The domains of security and forensics are
and communication is called IoT forensics which is highly same for providing safe environment to user. The security
indispensable for various types of attacks on IoT system. This concerns with identifying the type of attack and preventing it
paper will review types of IoT attacks and its preventive for minimum damage to the system. While forensics post-
measures in cyber security. It will also help in ascertaining IoT mortem the incident for finding out its cause and suggest
forensics and its challenges in detail. This paper will conclude corrective measures [9].
with the high requirement of cyber security in IoT domains with
implementation of standard rules for IoT forensics. II. IOT AND CYBER ATTACKS
Keywords— Internet of Thing, Cyber Attacks, Cyber Security, The Internet of Things has become a trending technology
IoT Security, IoT Forensics. for many businesses of different verticals. All the businesses
are using their own technologies and platforms for
I. INTRODUCTION communicating with IoT devices. Moreover, the devices do
The Internet of Things paradigm is about connecting not carry enough computing or memory capacity for security
devices with the help of the Internet from domains like implementation. Thus, it is almost impossible to have unified
medical to agriculture, manufacturing to home, transportation security measures for all such businesses [10]. As per the
to education and many more [1]. As per the research of IBM, research of CISCO, based on vulnerability of IoT system; they
by 2025 more than 75 billion IoT devices will be connected in found that sensors are the most vulnerable part of IoT system
the world as the number of devices from 2019 are increasing and most affected part is hardware/ firmware. The
exponentially [2]. It is also predicted that, by 2023 the vulnerability pyramid is designed based on the capacity to
spending on IoT devices will reach 1.1 trillion U.S. Dollars handle cyber-attack in IoT system [11].
[2]. The connected devices are aimed to provide fastest
communication among the ecosystem and thus the
requirement of security is neglected in many cases. The IoT
components communicate through signals of Wireless Sensor
Network (WSN) and Internet and thus they are most prone to
cyber-attacks [3].
As the study of Symantec, there are 600\% hike in IoT
cyber-attacks from year 2016 to 2017 and 15\% hike in
devices vulnerabilities [4]. This situation of attacks on IoT
system arise due to negligence of cyber security while
designing the devices and its system. The manufactures of IoT
system concentrate more on the miniature size of device, low
cost and high usability while designing and marketing the
product of IoT [5]. Furthermore, IoT devices are mainly
working on M2M communications without any human
intervention. Such open communication with less or no Fig. 1. IoT Vulnerability Pyramid
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The IoT devices uses API (Application Programmable
Interface) for providing user interface in application. All the
communication of IoT devices and its regulations can be
managed by the API of the system. The API are mostly
designed using JSon or JavaScript which is most prone to
cyber-attacks [8]. The IoT devices itself are vulnerable for
being the platform for security threat. The attackers use IoT
devices at government bodies, public places, medical
institutes, financial organizations, etc. for preforming the
cyber-attack. It is been predicted by [12] that, by 2025 one
third of cyber-attacks would use IoT devices as a platform for
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and many other attacks
on legit organizations. The attackers may use IP addresses,
smart gadgets, cameras and many other devices to hack or
intrude in the privacy [13].
The cyber-attacks can be categorized as physical and
digital attacks in the field of IoT [14]. As the cyber-attacks
already existed in the information technology world, but with
the advancement of IoT technology the new vertical of cyber-
physical attack comes in existence. The IoT devices are not
only prone to cyber-attacks but they are under threat of
physical attack also, due to its characteristic and size. The
main types of cyber-attacks are as under,
• IoT Hardware Attacks
• IoT Software Attacks
• IoT Data Attacks
• IoT Protocol Attacks
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Fig. 4. IoT Data Attacks
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Tab. 1. Security Measures for IoT Connectivity Protocol
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C. IoT Forensics Opportunities
IoT forensics is not only coming with challenges but also
offers many opportunities in technical advancements. The first
and important advantage of IoT forensics over other
categories is that the evidences recorded by IoT devices are
not noticed by criminals in many cases as IoT devices operates
without human intervention. Thus the criminal can never even
think of to delete the evidence or destroy the data [44].
The evidences of IoT devices can IoT forensics is not only
coming with challenges but also offers many opportunities in
technical advancements. The first and important advantage of
IoT forensics over other categories is that the evidences
recorded by IoT devices are not noticed by criminals in many
cases as IoT devices operates without human intervention.
Thus the criminal can never even think of to delete the
evidence or destroy the data [44].
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