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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published six risk-based principles for securing the Internet of Things (IoT) on November 15, 2016. They are non-binding guidance—not a certification or a one-size-fits-all checklist—but they offer organizations a practical way to address security across a connected product’s lifecycle, from design and updates to supply-chain oversight and network connections.
What DHS’s IoT security principles are
Strategic Principles for Securing the Internet of Things, Version 1.0 was published by DHS on November 15, 2016. It addresses organizations that design, manufacture, provide services for, deploy, or operate connected devices and systems.
The guidance treats IoT security as a shared responsibility. A device maker, service provider, deploying organization, and end user may each control different parts of the risk. DHS therefore recommends adapting the principles to the device, operating environment, and potential consequences rather than applying identical controls everywhere. The concern extends beyond unauthorized access: connected technology can affect critical infrastructure, privacy, economic activity, and physical processes.
The six principles and how to use them
1. Incorporate security at the design phase
Make security a product requirement from the beginning, not an add-on after deployment. Consider the security of hardware and operating systems, choose secure defaults, and plan how the product will fail safely when a component or connection is compromised or unavailable.
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2. Advance security updates and vulnerability management
Plan for authenticated software updates and a process for receiving, assessing, and addressing vulnerability reports. Automate updates where feasible, and decide how long the product will receive security support before customers deploy it. An update mechanism without a defined support period leaves buyers uncertain about when protection will end.
3. Build on recognized security practices
Use established software-security fundamentals, defense in depth, relevant sector guidance, and information sharing. Multiple safeguards can reduce reliance on any single control: for example, access restrictions can be reinforced by network segmentation and monitoring.
4. Prioritize measures according to potential impact
Assess what a compromise could do in the actual environment. Consider effects on the device, business processes, services, physical safety, privacy, and operations. A connected sensor in a low-consequence setting and a device that can affect an industrial process do not necessarily call for the same controls.
5. Promote transparency across IoT
Review suppliers and third-party components, and revisit supply-chain risks as products and dependencies change. Make it possible to report vulnerabilities, and consider maintaining a software bill of materials (SBOM)—an inventory of software components that can help identify whether a product includes a component later found to be vulnerable.
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6. Connect carefully and deliberately
Decide whether each device needs continuous internet access. Where its purpose allows, controlled or local connectivity may reduce exposure. Provide ways to disable unnecessary connections or ports, and avoid treating internet connectivity as an automatic default.
A practical checklist for securing IoT devices and deployments
Use the principles to shape a deployment plan that covers both product capabilities and the organization operating them:
- Set unique credentials, secure defaults, strong authentication, and least-privilege access.
- Establish update, patching, vulnerability-reporting, and product-sunset processes before deployment.
- Encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest, and minimize what is collected and how long it is retained.
- Segment IoT devices from other systems and monitor for expected and unexpected behavior.
- Review third-party software and hardware, maintain supply-chain visibility, and consider an SBOM.
- Test security during development and before launch, then repeat testing after material changes.
- Decide whether each device needs direct, continuous internet connectivity.
- Tell buyers what data is collected, how it is protected, and how long security support will last.
How often should IoT devices receive security updates?
DHS does not prescribe a universal update interval in these principles. The appropriate cadence depends on the product, its vulnerabilities, the risk of exploitation, and the consequences of compromise. Organizations should ensure there is a way to authenticate and deliver patches, a process to assess vulnerabilities, and a clearly communicated support period. A device whose maker no longer provides security updates may need isolation, replacement, or retirement based on its role and exposure.
Should an IoT device connect directly to the internet?
Only when its function requires that connection and the risk is acceptable. DHS’s connectivity principle calls for deliberate decisions: consider local or controlled connections when they meet operational needs, and make unnecessary connections or ports disableable. For devices that must be reachable, access controls, segmentation, and monitoring can help limit exposure and detect abnormal behavior.
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Managing IoT security across vendors and the supply chain
Security responsibility is distributed: the manufacturer controls product design and often updates; a service provider may operate cloud functions; and the deploying organization controls configuration, network placement, and monitoring. Buyers should ask vendors what components a product depends on, how vulnerabilities can be reported, what update and end-of-life support is offered, and what data the product collects. An SBOM can support component visibility, but it does not by itself guarantee that components are secure or maintained.
These practices have also appeared in later federal guidance. The Federal Trade Commission’s September 2020 guide to IoT security emphasizes lifecycle security, defense in depth, risk assessment and testing, authentication, encryption, data minimization, network segmentation, vulnerability monitoring, patching, and clear communication about support limits.
NIST’s Cybersecurity for IoT Program summarizes its approach through five principles: No One-Size-Fits-All, Ecosystem of Things, Outcome-Based Approach, Risk-Based Understanding, and Stakeholder Engagement. NIST’s page records figures labeled 2021: over 150,000 downloads of 19 documents, over 1,700 comments received, and more than 15 events with over 3,000 participants. These figures describe the program’s recorded activity, not a measure of security effectiveness.
What DHS’s guidance does—and does not—provide
The DHS document offers a framework for decisions, not mandatory technical specifications, certification criteria, or a fixed patch schedule. It is most useful when translated into responsibilities and controls for a particular deployment: who handles updates and vulnerability reports, which data needs protection, what happens if the device fails, and whether its connectivity is necessary. DHS underscores the urgency of the issue: “The time to address IoT security is right now.”
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