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Document Type

Article

Keywords

Cybersecre threats, IoT networks, Risk assessment, Vulnerabilities, Countermeasures

Abstract

To increase the number of connected devices in IoT networks, several types of new cyber threats and attacks also arise in the IoT. Any cyber-attack can cause significant damage to IoT networks and loss of service. Therefore, identifying these threats is one of the main steps in risk assessment and should be considered to create a robust security strategy to avoid IoT network breaches. Cybersecurity assessment in IoT networks is a prime process due to the evolving nature of cyberattacks. Therefore, this research focuses on addressing the current gap by performing a comprehensive analysis to identify the critical threats, vulnerabilities and countermeasures on IoT layers, including physical, data link, network, and transport and application layers. The findings of this study indicated that DDoS attacks and fishing threats were the most common technical threats in the IoT application layer, with percentages of 72% and 66%, respectively. In addition, the results revealed that the SQL injection threat, cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks were also classified as second-level technical threats in the IoT, with percentages of 55%, 53% and 52%, respectively. The third level of technical threats in the IoT was password cracking attacks, with a percentage of 48%. The results revealed that TCP/UDP port scanning, TCP/UDP flooding attack and MQTT attack were the most common technical threats in the IoT transport layer, with percentages of 34%, 33% and 31%, respectively. In addition, DNS poisoning, SYN flooding and desynchronization attacks were also classified as second-level technical threats in the IoT, with percentages of 27%, 26% and 24%, respectively. The third level of technical threats in the IoT included lateral movement attacks and DoS attacks, with percentages of 18% and 15%, respectively. The framework in this study is considered a vital tool for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to identify, classify, and mitigate cyber threats within IoT systems. The findings from this work can help organizations understand the types of cyber threats and develop robust strategies against cyberattacks.

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