IoT-Assets Taxonomy, Threats Assessment and Potential Solutions

Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interconnected devices and networks that provides autonomous functioning capability. Increasing expansion rate of IoT system in diverse set of domains has resulted in inclination of associated risks as well. This research paper presents classification of assets which are part of IoT system, identify platform-independent threats, and consolidate potential solutions to secure the IoT system from threats. Various researchers have conducted studies which are focused on specific industry/domain. Therefore, there is an inevitable necessity to present generalized assessment of IoT system and associated threats, irrespective of the industry or domain. In addition, this research presents prioritization, in terms of criticality, of IoT assets and threats that will enable stakeholders to identify the items that are crucial and items that can be ignored considering the low priority. This would enable researchers and stakeholders of IoT system (such as policy makers, end-users, manufacturers, and security experts etc.To have a deeper understanding of the implications and have an insight on solutions/recommendations in a broad-spectrum. Survey findings showed that DDoS (distributed denial of service), privacy attack, and information modification are the top three threats in terms of criticality ranking. A generalized (industry-independent) set of recommendations have been consolidated based on literature analysis and survey findings in three categories, which are related to policies, organizational measures, and technical measures.