Unsecured IoT devices are open doors for hackers

Norton's global survey revealed that 62% of connected device users believe that gadgets come with security out of the box – an alarming number considering that cybercriminals use these devices to carry out major attacks in several countries. More worrying is the number of people who do not adopt any security measures, such as passwords: 1 in 5.
 
Most of these devices are used for DDoS (Denial of Service Attack) attacks. In the USA, for example, they have already taken down half of the internet, and in Germany, they left almost a million users without internet. “Most people believe that these devices are not yet popular enough to be targeted by hackers, but criminals are already using them to cause much more damage than simple identity theft. Unprotected devices are being used to create a network and take down servers, and it harms many people. The trend is that attacks on these devices will increase in the coming years, but it is already a reality", says Nelson Barbosa, security engineer at Norton.
 
Still according to Barbosa, many of the devices that were infected had no protection or continued with the manufacturer's default password. To protect devices from intrusions, Norton recommends the following precautions:
 
• Use trusted security solutions on your mobile devices. Norton Mobile Security analyzes Android apps and identifies potential vulnerabilities before downloading.
 
• Only download apps from official stores like Google Play Store or App Store.
 
• Pay attention to your application settings. Be careful with apps that ask you to disable settings that protect you from installing unsafe apps. It makes your device more vulnerable and exposed to attacks.
 
• Keep your devices up to date. Be sure to install the latest updates as soon as they are available from the manufacturer. This measure is indicated not only for cell phones and tablets, but also for routers, Smart TVs and any connected device.
 
• Set strong passwords with numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and multiple symbols. It is important to establish different passwords for each device and account.
 
• Secure shared communication between your device and the network using encrypted communication on your home Wi-Fi (such as WPA2).