Businesses struggle to identify when their internet-connected devices have been breached, new research reveals.
Digital security firm Gemalto found that only around half (48%) of firms can detect if any of their IoT devices suffers a breach.
This is despite companies having an increased focus on IoT security, with spending on protection rising from 11% of the IoT budget in 2017 to 13%. And almost three times as many firms now say they see IoT security as an ethical responsibility (14%), compared to a year ago (4%).
With research from Ericsson predicting that the number of connected devices will exceed 20 billion by 2023, Gemalto urged businesses to act quickly to ensure their IoT breach detection is as effective as possible.
“Given the increase in the number of IoT-enabled devices, it’s extremely worrying to see that businesses still can’t detect if they have been breached,” commented Jason Hart, chief technology officer for data protection at Gemalto. “With no consistent regulation guiding the industry, it’s no surprise the threats – and, in turn, vulnerability of businesses – are increasing. This will only continue unless governments step in now to help industry avoid losing control.”
Methods currently being used to protect connected devices include encryption (71%), password protection (66%) and two-factor authentication (38%).
Blockchain is also emerging as a potential solution to increase security; adoption of blockchain has doubled from 9% to 19% in the last 12 months. A quarter (23%) of the IT and business decision makers surveyed by Gemalto believe that blockchain technology would be ideal for securing IoT devices, and 91% of organisations that don’t currently use the technology are likely to consider it in the future.
Hart continued: “Businesses are clearly feeling the pressure of protecting the growing amount of data they collect and store. But while it’s positive they are attempting to address that by investing in more security, such as blockchain, they need direct guidance to ensure they’re not leaving themselves exposed. In order to get this, businesses need to be putting more pressure on the government to act, as it is them that will be hit if they suffer a breach.”
Many businesses view security, data protection and privacy issues as barriers to the adoption of greater connectivity. To learn more about the challenges and opportunities presented by the next wave of connectivity, download our Next-generation connectivity report.
Tags: Internet of Things, IoT, blockchain, IoT-enabled devices
