How are public network firewalls used in Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios?

Public network firewalls play a critical role in IoT scenarios by acting as a security barrier between IoT devices and the external network, protecting them from unauthorized access, malware, and cyberattacks. They monitor and control incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined security rules, ensuring only legitimate data flows through.

Key Uses in IoT Scenarios:

1. Traffic Filtering – Firewalls inspect IoT device communications, blocking suspicious or malicious traffic. For example, a smart home firewall can prevent unauthorized access to security cameras or thermostats.
2. Access Control – They enforce rules to restrict which external systems can communicate with IoT devices. For instance, a firewall may allow only a specific cloud server to fetch data from industrial sensors.
3. DDoS Protection – Firewalls mitigate Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks that could overwhelm IoT networks, ensuring service continuity.
4. Protocol Filtering – IoT devices often use lightweight protocols like MQTT or CoAP. Firewalls can filter these protocols to prevent exploitation.

Example:

In a smart factory, firewalls can isolate operational technology (OT) devices from the public internet, allowing only authorized maintenance systems to access machinery data while blocking potential threats.

For IoT security in cloud environments, Tencent Cloud offers Tencent Cloud Firewall (CFW), which provides advanced threat detection, access control, and DDoS protection tailored for IoT and hybrid cloud deployments. Additionally, Tencent Cloud IoT Hub integrates with security services to ensure end-to-end encryption and secure device communication.