Protecting the Weakest Link: IoT Fingerprinting with Portnox Cloud

The Growing Threat of Unmanaged IoT 

The proliferation of IoT devices in enterprise networks presents substantial security challenges. Primarily designed for accessibility, IoT devices often lack the security measures needed to defend against cyber threats. Consequently, they become weak links and easy entry points for shadow IT attackers. It is essential to employ strategies like IoT device fingerprinting to mitigate risks and safeguard network integrity. 

Why is it Hard to Secure IoT? 

IoT devices were made to do one thing very well—whether that is gathering security camera footage in an office building, delivering accurate and on-time pain relief through infusion pumps in a hospital, or POS terminals at a large hotel. They are difficult to update and protect against vulnerabilities because they: 

• Operate using proprietary software 
• Lack user interfaces  
• Cannot support onboard agents or firmware updates 
• Ship with default credentials that are hard coded, or rarely changed by users 
• Are generally not manufactured with security in mind 

Protections at the network level are essential to ensure that any IoT device gaining access to a network is identifiable, does not open the network to attack, and only has access to what it needs. A key piece of the IoT security puzzle involves using IoT fingerprinting to help secure networks that IoT devices access. 

 

IoT Device Fingerprinting: Then and Now 

Why Fingerprinting Matters 

IoT device fingerprinting involves identifying, classifying, and monitoring devices by analyzing their behavioral and network signatures. This brings IT teams better device visibility, enables dynamic access control, policy enforcement, threat containment, and regulatory compliance. While often effective, traditional fingerprinting is cumbersome at best.  

The Trouble with Traditional Fingerprinting 

Traditional IoT device fingerprinting can be slow, manual, and unreliable. It often requires IT teams to develop and manually maintain a list of different device types and profiles, which is unsustainable in large or growing networks. Traditional methods frequently require on-premise actions, such as updating profiles after firmware changes. This becomes difficult to manage in large, dynamic environments. Reliance on a mix of passive traffic analysis, sometimes combined with active scanning queries, can be disruptive to the network. Reliability is a challenge because IoT devices may not be able to respond to queries.  

In addition, these methods lack real-time visibility, demand substantial IT resources, and struggle to keep pace with expanding networks. The challenge of implementing automated policies across distributed networks leaves organizations vulnerable to unauthorized devices and potential security breaches. As enterprise environments grow more complex and cloud-based, the limitations of these approaches become starkly evident. These limitations underscore the need for a modern, cloud-based approach. 

Enter Portnox’s Cloud-Native IoT Fingerprinting 

Cloud-native solutions are the only IoT fingerprinting solution requiring no on-premises setup. Portnox uses the following key methods to provide a non-invasive, modern approach: 

• MAC address clustering: groups devices by similar MAC address, inferring vendor, device type, and device model or function—which enables networks to identify a device even before it connects to the network. 
• DHCP gleaning: assigns IoT devices an IP address and extracts information from DHCP requests to build a device profile (identify and classify the device) during network onboarding; eliminates need for active probing by extracting information already being delivered to the network. 

With automated policy management and no need for manual device profiling, cloud-native fingerprinting can be deployed remotely and instantly, without visiting a physical office. 

The comparison table below summarizes traditional and cloud-native approaches to IoT device fingerprinting. It supports the notion that cloud-native solutions, such as Portnox Cloud, can deliver and scale IoT fingerprinting across widely distributed networks in a fraction of time. 

Which is Best? Traditional vs Cloud-Native IoT Fingerprinting 

 

Portnox Differentiators 

Portnox Cloud offers the following key differentiators: 

• Extensive device fingerprinting portfolio enabling companies to identify and profile hundreds of thousands of IoT device types across tens of thousands of device makers—with more consistently being added.
• Using AI and machine learning to quickly classify device types, detect anomalies, and keep the device portfolio current—without human intervention.
• Agentless, simplified deployment that allows IT teams to quickly deploy updates and address emerging threats across the network any time, anywhere.  
• Real-time visibility through an easy-to-use interface. 
• Zero trust security principles to allow dynamic policy enforcement and fast network segmentation based on device profiles.

 

Zero Trust, Cloud-Native IoT Security Without the Overhead   

Portnox Cloud transforms IoT security across extensive and global networks by adhering to zero trust principles and delivering fingerprinting that is effective, adaptive, and lightweight. Offering dynamic policy enforcement and broad visibility, Portnox IoT fingerprinting streamlines the administration of expanding IoT networks.  

Organizations can now achieve strong security without the complexity of traditional methods, making Portnox Cloud an innovative option for enterprises aiming to maintain network security despite the growing number of IoT devices joining corporate networks. 

Learn more about IoT security at our free webinar on June 26, 2025!