The area of cybersecurity is a broad and massive topic beyond the scope of this chapter. However, it is useful to understand three types of IoT-based attacks and exploits. Since the topology of the IoT consists of hardware, networking, protocols, signals, cloud components, frameworks, operating systems, and everything in-between, we will now detail three forms of prevalent attacks:
- Mirai: The most damaging denial of service attack in history that spawned from insecure IoT devices in remote areas.
- Stuxnet: A nation-state cyber weapon targeting industrial SCADA IoT devices controlling substantial and irreversible damage to Iran's nuclear program.
- Chain Reaction: A research method to exploit PAN area networks using nothing but a lightbulb—no internet needed.
By understanding the behaviors of these threats, the architect can derive preventative technologies and processes to ensure similar events are mitigated.