In an increasingly connected world, where billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices are deployed across homes and industries, a new class of sophisticated cyber threats is emerging. At the University of Colorado Denver, Assistant Professor Zhengxiong Li is leading groundbreaking research to understand and defend against these AI cybersecurity threats to IoT devices, preparing the next generation of security professionals for an evolving digital battlefield.
Why AI-Powered IoT Attacks Are a Growing Industrial Threat
The core of Professor Li’s work addresses a subtle yet dangerous vulnerability: the manipulation of how IoT devices interpret the physical world, particularly through voice commands.
Imagine you’re playing something on your smart speaker at home. “[If you] say, ‘Please close the window,’ the attacker can conduct an adversary attack,” Li explained. “This very secret attack makes the smart speaker believe your command is, ‘do not close the window.’”
While this specific attack might not yet be widespread, Li’s research confirms it is technically possible. His work demonstrates that artificial intelligence can be weaponized to subtly manipulate the decision-making processes of IoT devices. The implications extend far beyond smart homes, posing significant risks to autonomous vehicles, elderly care health alert systems, and industrial robotics .
Why Understanding AI Cybersecurity Threats to IoT Devices is a Critical Skill
Understanding these complex attacks requires more than theoretical knowledge. Xinmin Fang, a PhD student working with Li on the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded grant, highlighted the learning challenge. “There are many different details you need to pay attention to,” Fang said. “So, if you have actual code for practice, you can have a more comprehensive understanding of what you have learned in the course.”
To close this skills gap, Li, Fang, and their collaborators are creating detailed, hands-on learning modules that immerse students in realistic cybersecurity scenarios. “It’s not just like, ‘Teach students about the concept,’” Li said. “It gives a very detailed, hands-on project lesson to understand what knowledge will be applied in real practice and what the attack defense looks like.”
These modules are being integrated into Li’s classes at CU Denver and shared with the broader academic community via the NSF’s Sphere learning and research platform .
Why the IoT Threat Landscape is Harder to Manage in 2025
Professor Li’s research is particularly urgent given the current security climate. The threat landscape has expanded dramatically, with one in three breaches now involving an IoT device, according to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report.
- Scale of the Problem: Global IoT deployment surged past 18 billion devices in 2024 and is expected to exceed 40.6 billion by 2034 . Forescout’s 2025 report noted that the average device risk score climbed by approximately 33% from 2024 to 2025, indicating a rapid rise in exploitability and cyber exposure .
- Persistent Vulnerabilities: Most IoT breaches stem from outdated firmware, weak default credentials, and improper network segmentation. Alarmingly, one in five devices still uses default passwords, and manufacturing remains a high-risk sector, with the average cost of an Industrial IoT (IIoT) breach reaching $4.97 million in 2024 .
- The Botnet Evolution: The threat is not static. Security firm NetScout reports that hackers are now adding high-performance enterprise servers and routers to traditionally low-power IoT botnets, increasing the scope and impact of their attacks. These campaigns are more persistent and scalable than ever, fueled by AI-driven automation and readily available DDoS-for-hire services.
How AI is Transforming Both IoT Attacks and Defenses
The dual-edged nature of AI in cybersecurity forms a critical part of the analysis. On one hand, AI provides defenders with powerful new tools.
Machine learning-driven anomaly detection systems are a prime example of how AI is transforming threat prevention in IoT contexts. These systems can identify unusual behaviors in network data that could indicate unauthorized access or harmful activities .
Conversely, threat actors are leveraging the same technology to optimize their assaults. The 2025 Imperva Bad Bot Report found that generative AI is transforming bot creation, enabling less experienced attackers to launch more frequent and larger-scale bot attacks. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting API endpoints that handle valuable data, focusing on financial services, healthcare, and e-commerce sectors .
The Critical Skills Gap in the Workforce
This technological shift is creating a significant skills gap in the IoT market. According to Satyajit Sinha, principal analyst at IoT Analytics, integrating AI technologies into IoT products and services presents a major challenge.
“As AI is coming into the picture, there is a huge skills gap that we are seeing in the IoT market… The bigger challenge right now is to create a product and test it and deploy it, [but] the lifespan of that is so big right now for AI use cases [that] the moment people are going into the deployment stage, the technology has changed by that time.”
This gap underscores the importance of educational initiatives like those led by Professor Li, which aim to equip students with the practical, up-to-date skills needed to defend against these evolving threats.
The Road Ahead: Securing Our Connected Future
Professor Zhengxiong Li’s work at CU Denver represents a critical frontier in cybersecurity research. By dissecting how AI can be used to manipulate IoT devices and creating hands-on defensive modules, his team is contributing to a deeper, more practical understanding of these emerging threats. As the number of connected devices continues to soar and AI-powered attacks become more sophisticated, this research lays a foundational part of the defense strategy for our increasingly connected and intelligent world.
CreedTec Analysis: The intersection of AI and IoT security is no longer a niche concern but a central pillar of operational risk management. For industrial leaders, the question is not if but when AI-powered threats will target critical infrastructure. Proactive investment in specialized training and AI-aware defense systems is shifting from a competitive advantage to a non-negotiable component of industrial resilience.
FAQ
What are AI-based cybersecurity threats to IoT devices?
How is CU Denver Professor Zhengxiong Li addressing these threats?
Professor Li is leading NSF-funded research that creates hands-on learning modules. These modules allow students to engage with realistic attack scenarios, moving beyond theory to gain practical defense experience. The materials are used in his classes and shared nationally on the NSF’s Sphere platform .
Why are IoT devices particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks?
Fast Facts
Research by CU Denver Professor Zhengxiong Li is pioneering the understanding of AI cybersecurity threats to IoT devices, demonstrating how AI can manipulate devices like smart speakers. With IoT breaches escalating—now involving one in three security incidents—his team is creating hands-on educational modules to train the next generation of defenders against these sophisticated, evolving threats.
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Further Reading & Related Insights
- Aisuru IoT Botnet DDoS Attack → Explores how IoT botnets are evolving into large-scale cyber weapons, directly tied to AI-powered IoT threats.
- AI-Assisted Antenna Design for IoT → Shows how AI is enhancing IoT infrastructure, highlighting both opportunities and vulnerabilities in connected devices.
- IIoT Time Series Data Corruption from Power Instability in 2025 → Examines how unstable environments create exploitable weaknesses in IoT systems, relevant to cybersecurity risks.
- This Tiny Sensor Could Save Your Life: Inside IoT Emergency Response in Healthcare 2025 → Highlights IoT’s role in critical systems like healthcare, where AI-driven attacks could have life-threatening consequences.
- How Many Connected Devices Will Exist by 2030? → Provides scale context for IoT growth, reinforcing why AI cybersecurity threats to IoT devices are escalating.
