Japan’s IoT scanning project looks for vulnerable IoT devices

The growing world of IoT — and security concerns

The Internet of Things (IoT) is still a baby compared to other computing technologies, but the market has already exploded and continues to expand at a healthy pace. Telecommunications giant Ericsson estimates the number of IoT connections to grow from 10.8 billion in 2019 to 24.9 billion in 2025, or a 15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Estimates from the International Data Corporation (IDC) are even more robust. IDC forecasts that by 2025, the number of connected IoT devices will grow to 41.6 billion — together generating 79.4 zettabytes of data. That’s enough data to stream close to 26.5 trillion hours of Netflix in high definition.

The mind-boggling growth of the world of IoT comes with a hefty challenge. Securing connected devices has been a problem all along, as IoT devices are notoriously vulnerable to attacks. The old but still good story about hackers breaching a casino network through a connected fish tank may be the best illustration of the IoT risks.

Connected toasters and light bulbs may not be the first things to come to mind in matters of national security concerns, but Japan thought otherwise. As the country prepared for the 2020 Summer Olympics (since postponed until 2021), the Japanese government forged ahead with a project to scan its citizenry’s IoT devices for weaknesses.

The thinking behind Japan’s IoT scanning initiative

In November 2018, the country passed a law allowing its National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, or NICT (Japan’s sole national research and development agency), to access IoT devices for five years. The government approved a plan in January 2019 to carry out the survey shortly after. The reported goal was to evaluate the country’s vulnerability to cyberattacks.

NICT obtained the (Read more...)