Half of US businesses suffered IoT attacks in the last two years

In the past two years, 46 percent of US-based businesses have fallen victim to data breaches as a result of lax IoT security, while 52 percent haven’t and 2 percent “don’t know,” found a survey conducted by AltmanVilandrie & Company in April 2017.

“While traditional cybersecurity has grabbed the nation’s attention, IoT security has been somewhat under the radar, even for some companies that have a lot to lose through a breach,” said Stefan Bewley, AltmanVilandrie & Company Director.

“IoT attacks expose companies to the loss of data and services and can render connected devices dangerous to customers, employees and the public at large. The potential vulnerabilities for firms of all sizes will continue to grow as more devices become Internet dependent.”

For small companies with profit under $5 million per year, the financial loss following breaches accounts for 13.4 percent of their profit, or $255,000 on average. For large companies, it could total hundreds of millions of dollars.

Constant data breaches and loss of confidential information could lead to costly lawsuits from clients and business partners, as well as a drastic decline in consumer trust. Luckily, businesses have understood that security features should be a priority when choosing a provider, while manufacturers must implement robust security in connected devices from the design stage. Consumers have as much responsibility as manufacturers in demanding more security in devices.

Companies investing 65 percent of their IT budget in IoT security suffered fewer data breaches. As figures are expected to increase, IoT security is forecast to grow by 2.3x in the next three years.

Respondents named “preventing loss of control over IoT devices” as the main reason for investing in IoT security, followed by “preventing breaches of customer information” and “preventing breaches of company data.”