SMART DEVICES, SMARTER PROTECTION: TACKLING IoT SECURITY RISKS

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has transformed industries, homes, and critical infrastructure, enabling unprecedented connectivity and automation. However, this growth has introduced significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities, as many IoT devices are resource-constrained, heterogeneous, and deployed without adequate security consideration. This study addresses the critical challenge of IoT security by proposing a comprehensive, multi-layered framework for protecting smart devices across perception, network, and application layers. The framework integrates hardware-based security, cryptographic protocols, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered threat detection, and secure-by-design principles throughout the device lifecycle. Implementation on ESP32 sensor nodes, Raspberry Pi edge gateways, and PC-based intelligence hubs demonstrates that resource-constrained hardware can achieve comprehensive IoT security. The optimal configuration achieved 100% detection with 0% false positives across 376 tests covering five attack categories, with modest resource overhead (6.8% CPU, 37KB RAM per node) and hardware cost of approximately ₦224,000 compared to commercial solutions costing over ₦7.2 million. The findings confirm that effective IoT security requires a holistic approach that combines multiple complementary controls and that distributed consensus-based detection outperforms centralized approaches. This research contributes a validated security framework that addresses the unique constraints of IoT systems while providing robust protection against evolving threats