According to a new report, 61% of businesses use IoT platforms despite security risks. Read on to know more about it…
The Internet of Things (IoT) is greatly enhancing technology. Gartner has predicted that we will have around 25 billion IoT connections by 2025. The Internet of Things increases the comfort level of our homes and cities, helping us to solve problems related to the availability of resources and allowing organizations to measure the production performance, introduce automation and increase efficiency. All these benefits make the IoT a critical system that must be protected in order to prevent the positive impact of the IoT on businesses and people from being canceled.
Latest Report
According to a new report, 61% of businesses use Internet of Things platforms despite security risks. Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reported that nearly two-thirds of companies globally — 61% — implemented IoT applications in 2019 despite security risk. The use of IoT business platforms is growing year-on-year in almost all industries, said the report titled “With superpower comes super responsibility: benefits and challenges of IoT in business”.
“IoT is a powerful business enabler but to reap its benefits organisations need to put in a considerable amount of effort. It demands dedicated business processes, as well as expertise, to ensure it is effectively implemented,” Grigory Sizov, Head of KasperskyOS Business Unit, Kaspersky, said in a statement.
“As the survey shows, cybersecurity is also a question that needs resolving in the IoT space – in terms of security of equipment, technical and organizational protection measures and data privacy, as well as other factors,” Sizov added.
Statistics
Kaspersky’s 2019 Benefits and Challenges of IoT in Business study surveyed a wide range of businesses and collated information about their use of the IoT. The Kaspersky report showed that the use of IoT platforms has increased in almost all sectors: the most significant growth was recorded in the hospitality sectors (from 53% in 2018 to 63% in 2019), healthcare (from 56% to 66%) and finance (from 60% to 68%). Starting in 2019, the IT, telecommunications (71%) and finance (68%) sectors have adopted IoT more than any other vertical market. IoT platforms are used in various case studies including smart cities, electricity grids, metering, transport and logistics, as well as automated production and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC).
The increased adoption of the IoT comes despite the wealth of security concerns that professionals say the technology brings with it. Roughly 28% of organizations said that they experienced a cyberattack that was accomplished thanks to their use of IoT infrastructure. More specifically, 38% of security professionals believe the top security challenges for IoT are poor visibility into processes and a lack of in-house expertise.
Critical Incidents
The increase in the use of the IoT was not discouraged by the potential risks and accidents related to IT security. In fact, the Kaspersky survey revealed that 42% of companies using IoT platforms last year said they had suffered accidents involving connected but not IT devices. These incidents can be critical as sensors and smart devices collect terabytes of data, including sensitive information such as corporate data or customer personal information. Furthermore, IoT platforms can be connected to critical systems such as traffic, energy and transport processes, therefore it is essential to guarantee their continuity and integrity.
