Hacked or Hardened? Why Penetration Testing is Critical for IoT Success

The Internet of Things (IoT) is reshaping industries, and businesses are leveraging connected devices to drive efficiency, innovation, and convenience. IoT technology has become the backbone of modern operations, from smart factories and healthcare devices to consumer products, including wearables and home automation systems. With this increased connectivity comes even greater responsibility—and risk.

By their very nature, IoT devices often operate at the intersection of physical and digital systems, creating complex ecosystems that are increasingly attractive to cybercriminals. Each connected device, sensor, or application represents a potential entry point for attackers, making IoT security a critical consideration for businesses that want to safeguard their operations, data, and reputation.

This is where IoT penetration testing (known in the industry as pen testing) comes into play. Pen testing goes beyond traditional security measures by simulating real-world attacks on your IoT infrastructure, identifying hidden vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. This article will explore why IoT pen testing is essential for businesses operating in a connected world. From uncovering weak points in device firmware to securing communication protocols and cloud integrations, we’ll highlight how a proactive approach to IoT security can save businesses from costly breaches, regulatory fines, and damage to customer trust.

Whether you’re just beginning your IoT journey or looking to strengthen your existing systems, understanding the value of pen testing is the first step toward securing your business’s future. Let’s explore how IoT pen testing works and why it’s a game-changer for modern security strategies.

A typical IoT pen testing process

IoT pen testing is a form of active security analysis that uncovers vulnerabilities across the entire technology stack of connected devices, networks, and applications. Unlike traditional IT security assessments, IoT pen testing requires specialised techniques to address the unique challenges of the IoT ecosystem, primarily in firmware, wireless communications and third-party cloud integrations.

1. The first step in a typical IoT pen test analysis is to consider what forms of secure data the device requires for its core functionality and how this flows through its technology stack, from the firmware code to any cloud service interactions.
2. This is then followed by firmware analysis, where the pen testers attempt to extract and analyse any firmware files used by the device under test to identify hard-coded credentials, insecure update mechanisms, or weak encryption methods. This is done using a variety of open-source tools that can dump the device’s firmware and then allow the files contained within the firmware to be accessed and analysed.
3. A typical next step is network security testing, which assesses how the IoT device communicates over wireless and wired networks. Wired and RF communications are of particular concern since they are typically not as secure as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, often relying on security through obscurity. This is compounded by the fact that many of these technologies do not have off-the-shelf libraries for securing them readily available.
4. Hardware testing is another crucial step, where the pen testers examine physical components, such as debugging interfaces (e.g., JTAG, UART) and exposed ports for potential exploitation.
5. The final step is to perform a cloud and API security assessment to ensure that back-end services handling device data are protected against unauthorised access, injection attacks, and misconfiguration and that any third-party APIs such as AWS, Google cloud services, and Azure are used in a secure manner that does not expose user data or credentials.

Using these approaches, IoT pen testing provides a comprehensive security evaluation, helping businesses identify and remediate vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.

Real-world examples of past IoT security breaches

The consequences of insecure IoT devices are not just theoretical—they’ve already led to major breaches with widespread impact. Major security failures that could have been prevented by utilising pen testing include:

• The Mirai botnet attack (2016) involved hackers exploiting weak or default credentials in IoT devices to create a massive botnet that launched one of the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in history, crippling major websites. This attack could have been easily prevented if pen-testers had analysed the devices for credential issues.
• The St. Jude Medical pacemaker vulnerability (2017) exposed a life-threatening risk, with attackers able to remotely disable or manipulate implanted pacemakers due to insecure communication protocols. Analysing network traffic used by the device could have quickly uncovered this vulnerability.
• The Kalay baby monitor breach (2021) – In the consumer space, smart home devices have repeatedly been compromised due to insecure third-party service integrations. In this instance, hackers infiltrated internet-connected baby monitors, allowing them to spy on families in their homes. If pen-testers had examined the third-party integrations before the devices were released to the market, the manufacturer could have avoided a costly recall and significant reputation damage.

These incidents underscore the need for proactive IoT security measures. With proper penetration testing, these vulnerabilities could have been identified and mitigated before they were exploited.

How Consult Red Can Help Secure Your IoT Ecosystem

We offer end-to-end IoT security testing, helping businesses identify and mitigate risks before attackers can exploit them. Our IoT penetration testing services cover everything from firmware and hardware assessments to cloud, network, and API security testing. We simulate real-world attack scenarios to uncover vulnerabilities in device firmware, insecure communication channels and misconfigured cloud integrations, ensuring your entire IoT technology stack is resilient against threats.

Beyond pen testing, we offer IoT architecture consulting, helping businesses design security-first IoT solutions from the ground up. Our compliance and risk assessment services ensure your IoT deployments meet industry regulations such as GDPR, NIST, and ISO 27001, reducing legal and reputational risks.

Whether you are launching a new IoT product or securing an existing deployment, our consultancy delivers tailored solutions to protect your devices, data, and users.