Ransomware Detection in the Internet of Things (IoT): Challenges and Emerging Solutions

Ransomware attacks cause significant security risks to organizations and individuals, which can lead to financial loss and reputational damage. Therefore, it is essential to mitigate such attacks. As the number of connected devices to the Internet of Things (IoT) increases, particularly in sensitive networks, the number vulnerabilities explored in the IoT landscape increases as well. These vulnerabilities present opportunities for malicious actors to exploit and launch attacks, including ransomware. Security measures in IoT against recent attacks, ransomware attacks, in particular, are one of the concerns that face IoT. Yet, developing ransomware detection and mitigation methods becomes crucial to prevent the attack from being executed, by implementing early response to avoid any losses that ransomware can cause. This paper will review existing ransomware detection methods in IoT environments, faced challenges, and solutions. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison of detection methods based on the classification of the ransomware, limitations, and addressed challenges will be presented.