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52 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2020 cameras that are always online. This is an in- vitation for hackers who can use them to spy on us. A bad actor can use these smart devices to listen to conversations or even watch us in our own homes. This can create not only a ter- rible intrusion into one's personal life but can wreak havoc on a company when someone is working remotely from home. How can you prevent such issues? It be- gins with set up. Odds are, when you set up these devices, you don't read the entire pri- vacy policy, but it's imperative that you check the default settings when you get started with your IoT devices. This allows you to find out what data is being collected and how it's be- ing used. Take a few minutes while setting up your IOT devices to turn off unnecessary data sharing. Consider your home router as the front door of your digital world. It is the connection be- tween your smart devices and the internet, so it needs to be secure. Most people use the router provided by their internet service com- pany, but they aren't always very secure. Ask questions about the security of the router they provide. If you're not happy with what they have to offer, many independent companies al- so sell routers. A move to more secure routers is a great first step in securing your employees from threats of IoT devices. Next, name your router. Don't stick with the name the manufacturer gave it. Each router comes with an administrator logon for man- aging the router. Change both the login name and password for yourself. The other name and password you will want to change is the service set identifier (SSID), which is the network name (how it will appear as a Wi-Fi network). Make it an unusual name not associated with your ad- dress or street name so that it doesn't give away personal identifiers. In router settings, use a strong encryption method like WPA2 when you set up Wi-Fi network access. This further aids in keeping your network and communications secure. Be sure to set up a guest network for visitors that logs into a separate network that doesn't tie into your IoT devices. Also, check to see if your router has been infected with malware. In 2018, the VPNFilter malware infected more than 500,000 consum- er routers. IoT devices are connected with the internet via routers. Symantec has a free on- line tool to check if your router is affected by the VPNFilter malware [2] . Use this free tool to check your router from time to time. Ensure your employees have done their homework about the IoT devices they have purchased or are considering for purchase. Tell them to check the privacy policies for each de- vice and find out if the provider stores the data or sells it to a third party. Also, tell them to find out how updates are enabled on each device. Other ways to increase the security of your IoT devices are to keep your software updates, conduct and audit of the IoT devices you are already using, and disable any features you may not need. Be sure to change all default usernames and passwords on your IoT prod- ucts. Also, employ strong, unique passwords for your home Wi-Fi networks and device ac- counts. Two-factor authentication can also be set up for smart device apps associated with most IoT devices. Encourage your employees to use it for their privacy and the protection of your company data. Breaches of the COVID-19 Crisis Several businesses have suffered breaches among the coronavirus pandemic. According to TechCrunch [3] , Princess Cruises posted a no- tification on its website in early March about unauthorized access to a number of email ac- counts that contained the personal information of employees, crew, and guests, including so- cial security numbers, names, addresses, and information from government identification. Silicon Angle reported that Samsung also ex- perienced a breach [4] . According to the report, "A technical error resulted in a small number of users being able to access the details of an- other user." When Samsung became aware of the problem, it reportedly removed the ability for people to log in to the store on the website until the issue was addressed. Zoom, an industry leader in modern enter- prise video communications and digital meet- ing platform, recently experienced problems when the credentials to more than 500,000