The Messaging Backbone of IoT - That is Increasing the Attack Surface Threat

MQTT – The Messaging Backbone of IoT (and Its Security Risks)MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is the lightweight publish/subscribe protocol powering millions of IoT devices, smart homes, and industrial systems worldwide.

But with its explosive adoption comes rising security concerns—from unencrypted traffic to broker vulnerabilities like Mosquitto exploits and topic injection attacks.

In this episode of Technically U, we break down:

✅ What MQTT is and how it works (publish/subscribe, QoS, retained messages)

✅ Why it’s critical to IoT, IIoT, and industrial automation

✅ Recent vulnerabilities and research into MQTT security

✅ How attackers exploit weak configs to steal data or hijack devices

✅ Best practices for securing MQTT: TLS, ACLs, monitoring, and patching

✅ The future of MQTT 5.0, lightweight cryptography, and AI-powered detection

MQTT is the invisible backbone of IoT—and securing it is critical for the connected future.

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