Cybersecurity

‘Internet of Things’ cyber risks tackled during INTERPOL Digital Security Challenge

Do you know how to protect your webcam from being hacked? Would you know if a cybercriminal was using your printer to carry out cyberattacks?

While most of us are aware of the dangers that cybercriminals can pose to our computers and mobile phones and take steps to protect them, we seldom consider how these threats can affect the growing number of Internet-connected devices we use in our daily lives.

The ‘Internet of Things’

All devices which can connect to the Internet – collectively called the ‘Internet of Things’ or IoT – are potentially at risk of a cyberattack. Everyday personal items like video cameras, refrigerators and televisions can be used by cybercriminals for malicious means.

Cyberattacks targeting or using IoT devices have increased significantly in the past two years, according to several reports from the private cybersecurity industry. An example was the Mirai botnet, which in 2016 infected tens of thousands of devices, mostly Internet routers, with weak password security.  These were then used in coordinated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against websites worldwide including a university and several media sites.

In the world of cybercrime, the number of IoT devices a criminal has access to is seen as a sign of their status.

Although police around the world are developing the skills necessary to forensically examine computers and mobile phones, they are often not aware of how to collect evidence from other connected devices.

The latest edition of the INTERPOL Digital Security Challenge tackled this threat, with 43 cybercrime investigators and digital forensics experts from 23 countries investigating a simulated cyberattack on a bank launched through an IoT device.