Evaluating awareness and perception of botnet activity within consumer Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks.

McDermott, Christopher D.; Isaacs, John P.; Petrovski, Andrei V.

Abstract

The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), and demand for low-cost, easy-to-deploy devices, has led to the production of swathes of insecure Internet-connected devices. Many can be exploited and leveraged to perform large-scale attacks on the Internet, such as those seen by the Mirai botnet. This paper presents a cross-sectional study of how users value and perceive security and privacy in smart devices found within the IoT. It analyzes user requirements from IoT devices, and the importance placed upon security and privacy. An experimental setup was used to assess user ability to detect threats, in the context of technical knowledge and experience. It clearly demonstrated that without any clear signs when an IoT device was infected, it was very difficult for consumers to detect and be situationally aware of threats exploiting home networks. It also demonstrated that without adequate presentation of data to users, there is no clear correlation between level of technical knowledge and ability to detect infected devices.

Citation

MCDERMOTT, C.D., ISAACS, J.P. and PETROVSKI, A.V. 2019. Evaluating awareness and perception of botnet activity within consumer Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. Informatics [online], 6(1), article 8. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics6010008

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 18, 2019
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 15, 2019
• Journal: Informatics
• Electronic ISSN: 2227-9709
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 8
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics6010008
• Keywords: Internet of Things; Situational awareness; Threat detection; IoT security; Botnet; DDoS
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/321753