Half of Enterprises Have No Dedicated Staff, Processes or Policies for IoT Security

Global enterprises report greater efficiency and productivity, better product/service quality, and improved customer retention and experience, all thanks to recent deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. But business leaders are also concerned about their next steps. As IoT deployments greatly expand the attack surface for cybercriminals, half of businesses banking on IoT are doing so unprepared to combat cyber risks associated with these purchases.

A survey of 200 enterprise executives in North America and Europe reveals that, while most companies see strong business drivers to adopt IoT as part of a broader digital transformation process, concerns around security abound.

Industries like financial services, retail, manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality are benefitting most from IoT deployments. Asked which IoT applications are being deployed now, connected security dominates across the board at enterprises, with 70% adoption. Other common IoT applications being deployed include worker and workplace safety applications and remote payment terminals, to name a few. 81% of financial services enterprises are adopting remote payment terminals. In manufacturing, worker and workplace safety sits alongside connected security, both adopted by 66% of enterprises. In retail and hospitality, smart building systems are a key objective. Expansion into other uses, like asset monitoring, energy management applications, and predictive maintenance are being widely considered as well.

However, the survey also reveals that IoT security is creating an adoption lag, with 86% of enterprises reporting that IoT deployments have been delayed or constrained due to security concerns. 50% of respondents said they deployed IoT in controlled, private networks. The same percentage also report they have no dedicated teams, processes or policies for IoT cybersecurity. This raises significant concern, because IoT applications are widely targeted by cybercriminals as entry points. But enterprises are apparently aware of these risks, with 83% stating that “the ability to provide proven integrated IoT security solutions is essential or very important to them when choosing an IoT supplier,” according to the report.

Bitdefender IoT Security Platform supports the rapid adoption of Internet-connected devices on new or existing infrastructures, protecting the entire networking ecosystem against elusive cyber threats, malware, and even spying attempts. Bitdefender draws on the intelligence of more than 500 million endpoints globally, with each new detection automatically improving the platform for all users globally.

For service providers, the solution is flexible enough to allow added security features on low-performance devices, where heavy local processing would impact quality of service due to hardware constraints. MSPs can also go completely modular and integrate one or all of our IoT security technologies into their offering. Learn more at https://www.bitdefender.com/iot/.