Top IoT Penetration Testing Methodologies to Explore

The Internet of Things, or IoT, has emerged as a remarkable technology that can connect a wide range of physical objects or devices through the internet, such as cars, watches, refrigerators, thermostats, security cameras, printers, locks, mirrors, and speakers, among many others. It is capable of making science fiction become a reality and is futuristic in its scope, utility, and application. According to statistics, enterprise IoT spending increased by 12% in 2020 to an expected $128.9 billion in 2021—a whopping 20% increase. This spending is expected to grow at a 26.7 percent annual rate after 2021 (Source: IoT Analytics). Along with this incredible growth trajectory, however, there is an ever-increasing shadow of security risks that threaten to derail this ecosystem unless stringent measures such as IoT penetration testing are implemented. This is amply corroborated by statistics, according to which cyberattacks on IoT systems have more than doubled in the first half of 2021.

To quantify the numbers, around 1.5 trillion breaches have been reported between January and June 2021 (Source: Kaspersky). The immensity of the problem needs to be tackled on a war footing as there are millions of IoT devices in the world running critical systems. If some of these devices are compromised or hacked, the consequences can be terrible. To prevent such an occurrence, the IoT-based system should be tested from the perspective of an attacker. This is where IoT penetration testing comes into play by testing IoT applications to identify and mitigate any inherent inadequacies or glitches in the system.

What is IoT penetration testing?

It is the process of assessing and exploiting various components of an IoT system to identify and fix the underlying faults or bugs. The IoT device testing solutions thus offered can help to make the devices and components therein more secure. It uses social engineering techniques (from sending phishing emails to using unencrypted passwords) to gain access to the systems, databases, and networks. IoT penetration testing helps to gauge the company’s defences against cyber criminals targeting the IoT ecosystem by simulating or mimicking their actions. Here, testers try to target vulnerabilities in software deployment such as policy management, configurations, or gaps in interactions. The testing involves the use of both manual methods and automation tools to zero in on communication protocols, cryptographic schemes, and network infrastructure. As a part of the Internet of Things QA testing, pen testing ensures the transmission of information among devices is secure and the end-user does not have to worry about cyber threats.

What are the pen testing methodologies?

The various pen test methodologies to strengthen the security of IoT devices are as follows:

Information gathering and analysis: In this IoT testing methodology, information related to the target system such as table names, database, hardware, and software used by several third-party plugins is tried to be accessed using techniques such as web page source code analysis, among others. The information gathering process is executed by identifying information from three structural layers of the IoT system, namely, perception layer, network layer, and application layer. The information to be thus obtained should be organized and analyzed with viable attack paths duly planned. Further, a validity check should be done on the accessed information to ensure its authenticity, completeness, and accuracy within the test environment.

Vulnerability assessment: After collecting data and information in the first phase of testing, any security weakness or vulnerability is identified, whereupon penetration testers launch attacks on the IoT system by exploiting the entry points.

Exploitation: During this phase of IoT security testing, an attack is mounted on the IoT system based on the attack paths planned in the analysis phase. Here, a DDoS attack is avoided to ensure the target’s availability. The various techniques used are skimming to read the node information, eavesdropping to obtain information between the router and nodes, spoofing to generate fake node data, cloning, killing the node, and signal replaying and hijacking, among others.

Result analysis and report generation: Successful IoT testing involving pen testing results in unearthing the inherent vulnerabilities in the IoT system. These details are documented and suitable remedial actions are presented to the owner of the system. The vulnerability reports can be customized as per the organizational needs.

Conclusion

The security of IoT systems is of critical importance given that a lot of sensitive and confidential information is transmitted between the devices within the system. IoT Penetration testing takes the approach of an attacker to identify any existing vulnerabilities in the system. It helps businesses to shore up their defences and assure the privacy and confidentiality of all information.