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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Consultancy launches IoT security evaluation service

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

The race to get new internet-connected products to market and jump on the IoT bandwagon is compromising security and putting customers’ personal data at risk, say security researchers at Context Information Security. 

To address these concerns and help companies to design in robust security from the outset, Context has launched a Product Security Evaluation service. Its researchers and penetration testers are working with manufacturers to test new products or software before going to market. They will also test third-party products prior to a customer buying, using or recommending it, in order to make sure they are not exposing themselves or their businesses to risks. This can be as simple as the psswords used:
Recent news has shown the potential repercussions for easily hacked IoT devices, being used for a botnet that has been used to bring down sections of the Internet, and is up for hire to allow online criminals to make further DDOS attacks.

“While the IoT offers exciting new opportunities, security is one of the major issues holding back mass adoption,” said Neil Biggs, Head of Research at Context. “Both established and new vendors are desperate to seize a market lead, but many do not have the cyber security skills and expertise to deliver safe and secure products that stand up to potential attacks in the real world.”

Context researchers have themselves exposed security flaws in a number of IoT products including Wi-Fi lightbulbs, a Canon printer, aYale smart alarm and Motorola home security cameras. In each case the vendor was informed and Context helped to fix the vulnerabilities.

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