IoT Cybersecurity: Benefits & Challenges

There is a huge amount of data being gathered, processed, and analyzed daily by consumers and businesses every day and all of these are being performed at the far fringe of technology infrastructure. All of these operations are driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Reports are showing that there will be 64 billion IoT devices used by industries by 2026. Reports also speculate that businesses are going to spend nearly USD 15 trillion on IoT devices, solutions, and support systems.

IoT Cybersecurity: Benefits & Challenges

IoT activities are being used in various fields like smart homes, smart cities, fitness monitoring, inventory control, and more. By the end of the year, approximately two to six IoT devices are going to be used for every person in the world. These numbers are greater than the combined number of smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Let’s start with knowing about IoT cybersecurity. We will start with its risks.

Increasing IoT cybersecurity risks

With the increased use of IoT devices, risks associated with it will also increase. In the first half of 2019, there were very high numbers of attacks on IoT devices. There are several reports shown that cyberattacks on IoT environments are rapidly increasing causing serious effects. This includes bots or worms that can cause damage to smart devices such as Linux-based internet routers and leverage them to commit additional crimes such as denial of service attacks or illicit mass marketing. The attacks are not only being targeted at military and business infrastructure but also on the industrial systems. There is a lot of complexity in the IoT ecosystem along with a variety of different vendors providing various IoT devices. This increases the difficulty in building security protocols for IoT. There have been some recent developments in the security practices being used to protect organizations and their IoT systems. The three main sections of the rules are:

  1. Detection: Learning the connection methods, like which IoT devices and components are connected to a given network or system.
  2. Authentication: Checking the identity and origin of IoT devices that will help in detecting and preventing form spoofing.
  3. Updating: Maintaining and upgrading IoT security capabilities to bypass the hackers and cybercriminals.

These are the basic tactics that companies are using to deal with IoT security breaches. Some of the new strategies are:

  • Restricting access to sensitive data
  • Continually monitor who is accessing each device
  • Frequently backing up all the information gathered by IoT devices
  • Proactively identifying cyber threats to anticipate and stop breaches
  • Maintaining accurate data on each IoT device to determine the number of potential risks

These basic steps lead to a roadmap that is used by cybersecurity professionals to form a comprehensive IoT security framework.

Common Vertical Markets Using IoT

There are several key industries and market segments that are making the best out of IoT utilization. The increased number of use cases indicates that IoT not only has an impact on society but it also helps you know about the number of entry points that hackers and cybercriminals can exploit. The markets like healthcare and life sciences; smart homes, cities, and infrastructure; transportation and concrete mobility; and industrial systems and sensors are using IoT devices.

Examples of IoT cybersecurity breaches

Numerous instances demonstrate how common IoT security breaches are. Some of them are very serious and do a lot of damage. There are a few important incidents that have happened recently. In this first case, hackers stole identity and bank details from individuals through remote access to a coffee machine. Smart coffee machines can be controlled remotely using smartphones or even with voice commands and that can be compromised. Coffee machines just aren’t designed for security, therefore, they are convenient and unprotected ways to access connected systems. 

In the second case, it happened using the connected network printers. Approximately 60% of businesses in the UK, US, France, and Germany suffered a printer network data breach in 2019. These breaches cost them more than USD 400,000 on average. Printers are not very well secured that’s why they can act as an ingress point to the network. They can even be recruited as part of botnets to carry out DDOS attacks within the organization. 

After knowing about the threats and IoT attacks, the organizations need trained and skilled cybersecurity experts. These professionals are proficient in protecting infrastructure, securing data and information; running risk analysis and mitigation; architecting cloud-based security, and achieving compliance from cyber attacks. 

So, you can now understand the importance of knowing this field. Various IoT certifications will help you showcase your skills and grab the attention of your employer. uCertify has the best Certified Internet of Things Security Practitioner (CIoTSP) and Certified Internet of Things Practitioner (CIoTP) courses to provide cybersecurity professionals an extra edge. The knowledge will help them to protect the entire infrastructure from central systems out to the IoT edge.

uCertify introduces Certified Internet of Things Security Practitioner prep course

The Internet of Things (IoT) adds a strong value to each organization. By connecting objects, people, and environments, it has become possible to develop improvements but it also creates exponential vulnerabilities that IT security teams are not currently prepared to defend. uCertify offers the Certified Internet of Things Sec. Practitioner course to help candidates prepare for the CertNexus ITS-110 exam. The course covers the ITS-110 exam objectives and provides skills and knowledge to secure network environments for IoT devices, analyze vulnerabilities and determine controls against threats, and effectively monitor IoT devices and respond to incidents.

uCertify introduces Certified Internet of Things Security Practitioner prep course

The Certified Internet of Things Sec. Practitioner course comes with lessons, exam-based practice tests, and labs. uCertify lesson comes complete with quizzes, flashcards, knowledge checks, connect the idea, glossary, and 40+ interactive activities. You also have the option to highlight the content and search from Wikipedia or Google while browsing chapters. Labs provide virtual environments created to help you experiment and apply your knowledge to real-life situations. Practice tests are often organized to closely follow the exam objectives and are designed to simulate real testing conditions.

About ITS-110 Exam

CertNexus’ Certified IoT Security Practitioner certification exam is for candidates who want a vendor-neutral, cross-industry skill set that can allow them to style, implement, operate, and/or manage a secure IoT environment. The popular career prospects on being a Certified IoT Security Practitioner are:

  • Cloud Engineer
  • Web Developer
  • Product Manager
  • Solution Architect
  • Platform Engineer
  • Database Developer
  • Application Developer
  • Cybersecurity Analyst
  • Network Administrator
  • IAM Administrator/Engineer
  • Software Development Engineer
  • Production Engineer/Floor Technician

This exam validates candidates’ foundational skill set of secure IoT concepts, tools, and technologies, that will enable them to become capable IoT Security practitioners in a wide variety of IoT-related job functions.

So, check out uCertify’s Certified Internet of Things Sec. Practitioner course, start your prep, and enhance your job prospects!

Gain hands-on expertise in the Microsoft MTA 98-365 certification exam with uCertify

The Microsoft MTA credentials are extraordinary credentials to start if you want to get into the realm of technology and innovation. The MTA certification improves technical skills and skills using varied Microsoft technologies. MTA Windows Server Administration is an advanced computer networking credential that covers server installation and configuration, server roles, storage, file and print web services, active directory and group policy, troubleshooting, virtualization, remote access, and application servers. uCertify offers the Windows Server Administration Fundamentals course to help you prepare for the Microsoft 98-365 exam.

Gain hands-on expertise in the Microsoft MTA 98-365 certification exam with uCertify

The Windows Server Administration Fundamentals course comes with hands-on labs and exam based practice tests. Labs allow you to experiment and apply your knowledge to real-life situations while practice tests can be configured to closely follow the exam objectives and are designed to simulate real exam conditions. In addition to the TestPrep uCertify provides PrepEngine, a gamified version of TestPrep that features a deep foundation in learning science. It is built to meet the needs of today’s students and professionals who don’t have time to sit for 90-minute test sets. With no additional costs, uCertify PrepEngine helps students learn efficiently and effectively.

Upon course completion, you will be familiar with the following concepts:

  • Server installation
  • Server roles
  • Active Directory
  • Storage
  • Server performance management
  • Server maintenance

About MTA 98-365 Exam

The Microsoft MTA certification is an industry-recognized credential and a standalone certification from Microsoft with the exam code 98-365. This certification covers technologies of Windows Server administration and is targeted to those professionals who want to prove their caliber in fundamental concepts of the server administrator. The Microsoft MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals Certified Professionals has several career opportunities open up to them that include Windows Server Administrator and Windows Server Manager.

So, enhance your career prospects by being a Microsoft MTA certified with uCertify’s Windows Server Administration Fundamentals course.

Prepare for the Microsoft Access 2019 certification exam with uCertify

Microsoft Access is an effective tool to create business applications through templates or from scratch. With its intuitive and rich design tools, Access helps you quickly create appealing and highly functional applications. Using Visual Basic for Applications, you can automate business processes and create useful forms and reports. You can also combine data between Access and line-of-business apps, making use of the Access connector library to make comprehensive visuals and insights within the Access interface. You can store data in Microsoft Azure SQL and SQL Server to enhance security, reliability, scalability, and long-term manageability. With constantly improving capabilities, Access produces flexible and adaptable database systems.

Prepare for the Microsoft Access 2019 certification exam with uCertify

Learn how to use Microsoft Access 2019 and prepare for the MO-500 certification exam with uCertify’s Microsoft Access 2019 course. The course provides complete coverage of the MO-500 exam and will help you know how to manage databases, create and modify tables, create and modify queries, modify forms in layout view, and modify reports in the layout view. The course offers exam-based practice tests and hands-on labs. uCertify Practice Tests are simple, cloud-based solutions that help candidates to prepare for the certification exam effortlessly. Labs provide a virtual hands-on environment that allows you to experiment and apply your knowledge to real-life situations. Most uCertify labs are auto-graded which enables students to urge immediate feedback and remediation.

About MO-500 Exam

The Microsoft Access Expert (Access and Access 2019) certification exam validates candidates’ ability to create and maintain Access Database objects including tables, relationships, multilevel reports, data entry forms, and multi-table queries. Candidates of this exam are expected to show the correct application of the Access principal features and complete tasks independently.

So, start your prep for the Microsoft Access 2019 certification and demonstrate that you have the skills needed to get the most out of Access with uCertify!

Benefits of becoming a DevOps Engineer

Professionals who are working in the technical field and the IT industry must know about the DevOps revolution. DevOps is simplifying the automation trend in business organizations. There has always been a disconnect between software developers, IT teams, operations, and product teams in an organization using traditional software development models. DevOps is used to close this gap and smoothen the workflow.

Benefits of becoming a DevOps Engineer

The word DevOps consists of two terms, “Development” and “Operations” which signifies the main purpose of this practice. In the past, the development teams and operations teams faced difficulty working together because of the work differences. The Devs focused on the dexterity of the software application process, whereas Ops worked on its stability. Software development comprises various manual activities like coding, testing, and monitoring. The DevOps methodology brings in a healthy collaboration between these two by automating the manual processes and saving a lot of time. 

DevOps methodology improves the software quality being delivered to the customers. This also enables better communication and feedback ultimately giving a better profit. Every business and organization comprises IT and software because DevOps is needed in all kinds of organizations. Becoming an expert in DevOps, its agile methodology, and software architecture can help gain a lot of benefits. Many companies are moving to the DevOps culture to gain faster continuous delivery increasing the demand for skilled DevOps professionals.

Here are some of the reasons for the increased adoption of DevOps methodology:

  • Reduced rate of failure
  • Reduction in error solving time
  • Increased use of Microservice architecture

DevOps Engineer: Demand, roles, and responsibilities

A DevOps engineer should have soft and hard skills to overcome the barriers coming in between software development and operations teams during the code release process. This will speed up the workflow and produce quality releases. 

There is a growing demand for highly skilled DevOps professionals. Research has shown that there will be up to 30 times more deployments in this field as compared to 2017. Adobe was able to meet 60% more app development demand after applying DevOps methodology. With this methodology, an organization can achieve better customer satisfaction. 

DevOps engineer roles require professionals to have soft as well as technical skills. Coding sections cover the “Dev” part of DevOps. But to be a successful DevOps engineer Ops skills are required. 

Some of the operational skills are listed below:

  • Project management skills
  • Understanding of process reengineering
  • Knowledge of IT systems and production environment
  • Knowledge of software development tools and techniques
  • Experience with data management and operation in the production environment 

These skills help in reducing complexity in product formation, minimizing delays in distribution, and ensuring better integration between various platforms and operating systems.

The average annual salary earned by a lead Development Operations (DevOps) Engineer is USD 137,000 and USD 180,000. Market analysis shows that 81% of the enterprises are using DevOps practices while 70% of small to medium businesses are using this methodology. Approximately 80% of the organizations are paying more than USD 90,000 as a starting salary. On the other hand, 35% pay at least USD 115,000, and 17% pay more than USD 125,000.

Becoming a DevOps Engineer

If you want to become a DevOps engineer then there are more than one career paths for it. A software developer interested in network operations and product deployment can move to this field. A systems administrator can become a software developer by learning some skills and can help in improving testing and deployment. DevOps is going to rule the market in the coming years. Almost all kinds of industries are adopting or planning to adopt this methodology. You can gain skills and enhance your career prospects in this industry. 

You can get yourself enrolled in uCertify’s DevOps training course. Our course has the best learning material that will help you with the skills required for starting your career in this field. The DevOps training course focuses on the objectives covered in both DevOps fundamentals and leadership certification exams. The DevOps certification course covers the most important and critical aspects of the DevOps methodology. The course provides an in-depth knowledge of DevOps and its benefits. The DevOps certification course also provides knowledge on DevOps and its impact on the software development cycle to help you prepare for your first DevOps engineer jobs.