Securing IoT Devices using Geographic and Continuous Login Blocking: A Honeypot Study

Fredrik Heiding, Mohammad-Ali Omer, Andreas Wallström, Robert Lagerström

Abstract: IoT (Internet of Things) devices have grown exponentially in the last years, both in the sheer number of devices and concerning areas of applications being introduced. Together with this rapid development we are faced with an increased need for IoT Security. Devices that have previously been analogue, such as refrigerators, door locks, and cars are now turning digital and are exposed to the threats posed by an Internet connection. This paper investigates how two existing security features (geographic IP Blocking with GeoIP and rate-limited connections with fail2ban) can be used to enhance the security of IoT devices. We analyze the success of each method by comparing units with and without the security features, collecting and comparing data about the received attacks for both kinds. The result shows that the GeoIP security feature can reduce attacks by roughly 93% and fail2ban by up to 99%. Further work in the field is encouraged to validate our findings, create better GeoIP tools,