Walk into any office, and you’ll find an army of “things” on the network: smart printers, IP security cameras, conference room systems, HVAC and building controls, VoIP phones, badge readers, and even coffee machines.
Research shows these categories—printers, building automation, VoIP gear, and medical/industrial equipment—are among the riskiest connected devices, often sitting at the intersection of IT, IoT, and OT risk.
Individually, each device seems harmless. Collectively, they’re an expanded attack surface full of weak credentials, outdated firmware, and flat network access.
Real-World Attacks: Cameras, Routers, and Botnets
These aren’t hypothetical risks. Last year, researchers found that a long-standing vulnerability in AVTECH IP cameras was being exploited to spread the Mirai malware, with many of these cameras deployed in critical sectors such as finance, healthcare, and transportation.
At the same time, security vendors have tracked Mirai- and Bashlite-style botnets abusing insecure IoT devices (often via default or weak passwords) to launch large-scale DDoS attacks against enterprises worldwide.
Geopolitical actors are in the mix, too. Joint advisories from U.S. and allied agencies describe PRC-linked groups compromising thousands of small-office/home-office routers and IoT devices to build stealth botnets and hide operations targeting critical infrastructure and government networks.
The pattern is clear: once an attacker controls a camera, printer, or HVAC controller, they pivot into the corporate network, move laterally, and eventually reach high-value systems.
Why Office IoT Is So Hard to Defend
Several realities make IoT backdoors uniquely painful for security teams:
- Shadow inventory: Many organizers don’t have a complete, current inventory of all connected devices, especially “non-IT” equipment procured by facilities or business units.
- Weak or default credentials: Devices ship with default passwords and limited MFA options and may not support modern identity controls.
- Patch and end-of-life problems: Firmware updates are slow, manual, or nonexistent. Devices stay in service long after vendors stop providing security fixes.
- Flat networks: Printers, cameras, and building systems often sit on the same VLANs as user endpoints and servers, making lateral movement trivial.
- Vendor and contractor access: Third-party technicians may connect remotely or plug in laptops, introducing additional risk paths you don’t fully control.
What CISOs and IT Leaders Can Do Now
You can’t rip and replace every IoT device tomorrow, but you can make backdoor attacks much harder:
- Inventory and classify IoT assets. Use network discovery and passive monitoring to identify all IoT endpoints, then tag them by criticality and exposure.
- Segment ruthlessly. Put IoT devices on dedicated, tightly controlled network segments with strict firewall rules and no direct access to sensitive systems.
- Align with NIST IoT guidance. NIST SP 800-213 and its related publications provide a framework for evaluating IoT security capabilities and integrating them into broader risk management.
- Secure onboarding and lifecycle. Recent NIST work on secure IoT onboarding emphasizes strong identity, authenticated enrollment, and managed decommissioning—treat IoT like any other managed endpoint, not a “black box.”
- Harden the basics. Change default credentials, turn off unused services, enforce least privilege, and log all admin actions for IoT management interfaces.
- Update playbooks. Ensure incident response includes specific procedures for isolating, reimaging, or replacing compromised IoT devices, and for validating that they’re no longer part of a botnet.
LibertyID Business Solutions provides customer WISP protocols, advanced information security employee training, third-party vendor management tools, and post-breach regulatory response and notification services. This allows businesses to improve the safeguards surrounding their consumers’ private data and head toward a compliant posture in relation to the federal FTC and often overlooked state regulations. Along with the components mentioned, LibertyID Business Solutions includes our gold-standard identity fraud restoration management services for employees and their families.