How Can Enterprise IoT Act as a Barrier Against Bluetooth Endpoint Vulnerabilities?

By CIOReview | Monday, February 17, 2020

IoT devices lead to an increase in security challenges of defending corporate networks, and to continue travel safety, organizations have to understand the risks of deploying IoT devices and formulate ways to mitigate them.

FREMONT, CA: According to a report, 71 percent of manufacturers plan to deploy IoT devices, regardless of the associated risks. Enterprises taking measures to continue to travel safely must consider the devices that create the risk, an analysis of the kind of attacks that can be used for and has the potential implications and regulatory risks. While speaking about the vulnerabilities on these devices, the area that is ignored the most is Bluetooth. This low-powered wireless technology is on every endpoint, and is largely used in IoT devices; it is generally active and discoverable by default. Bluetooth is considered to be a harmless technology from a security perspective, and it is believed that its short-range feature makes it difficult for the attackers as they have to be in very close proximity to explore it.

The Bluetooth connections are encrypted, but this has not pulled back the researchers to find vulnerabilities allowing them to eavesdrop on links between both phones and headphones. It can also be used to transfer files from one device to another, so if a hacker gains access to a device via Bluetooth protocol, they can potentially access sensitive information on the device as well.

IoT devices contain relevant data concerning network or business, so they have to be disposed of carefully. There are various ways of combating available to be sure of protecting from Bluetooth attacks. To begin with, for the devices equipped with Bluetooth but are not leveraging that functionality, it is crucial to ensure that Bluetooth is turned off, and where it is not possible than to be sure that all the devices are completely patched.

If Bluetooth devices control is implemented throughout all endpoints within the organization, it will address serious bugs and vulnerabilities like the ones mentioned earlier. It is vital for an organization to be aware of the risks the IoT devices present and that it develops policies to govern the strategies to know how these devices are procured, monitored, and decommissioned.