Performing IoT Security Assessment

When to Use

• Evaluating the security of IoT devices before deployment in enterprise or critical infrastructure environments
• Assessing consumer IoT products for security vulnerabilities as part of product security review or certification
• Testing industrial IoT (IIoT) devices for vulnerabilities that could affect operational technology environments
• Analyzing firmware for backdoors, hardcoded credentials, and known vulnerabilities in embedded components
• Evaluating the security of the complete IoT ecosystem including device, cloud backend, and mobile companion app

Do not use against IoT devices without written authorization, for modifying firmware on devices you do not own, or against medical devices or safety-critical systems without specific medical device testing authorization and safety protocols.

Prerequisites

• Physical access to the target IoT device(s) for hardware analysis and testing
• Hardware tools: USB-to-UART adapter (FTDI), Bus Pirate, logic analyzer, JTAG debugger (Segger J-Link), SPI flash programmer (CH341A)
• Firmware analysis tools: Binwalk, Firmwalker, Firmware Analysis Toolkit (FAT), Ghidra, QEMU for emulation
• Network analysis: Wireshark, tcpdump, Bluetooth tools (Ubertooth, nRF Connect), Zigbee tools (KillerBee)
• Soldering equipment for accessing hardware debug points if needed