A Systematic Literature Review on IoT Cyber-Attacks During the COVID-19 Era: Taxonomy, Trends, and Mitigation Techniques

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused people to adopt IoT devices more than ever before, which has resulted in increased cyber attacks that target these devices throughout the world. The literature review studies academic research which evaluates the COVID-19 effects on IoT criminal activities during the period from 2018 to 2023. The research shows that cybercriminals attack IoT devices using specific methods and tools which they employ to launch their cyber attacks. The researchers applied the PRISMA approach to select academic papers which discussed how criminals used IoT technology to carry out COVID-19 related offenses. The research established a method to classify cybercriminals who execute disgraceful acts against IoT devices through their cyber operations. The COVID-19 period saw an upswing in ransomware attacks which involved phishers and botnets targeting both IoT and healthcare systems because too many IoT devices were deployed without proper security measures. The study results presented new methods which could help prevent IoT related crimes that resulted from the attack. The research team suggested using artificial intelligence to detect intrusions, blockchain technology for authentication, and edge computing as the most effective security solution for IoT devices. The research will help researchers and practitioners and policy makers to understand different cyber attack types which target IoT systems while they work to strengthen IoT device security.