97% of risk pros believe unsecured IoT could facilitate cyber attacks

A collaborative report from the Ponemon Institute and the Shared Assessments Program has revealed that 97% of risk professionals are worried that an unsecured IoT devices could result in a significant cyber hack and cause threats to many businesses.

Having surveyed 605 professionals, the report found that the number of IoT devices in the workplace is expected to increase from 15,874 devices in 2017 to 24,762 devices this year.

See also:

• Gartner: IoT security spending to rise to $1.5bn in 2018

• Cisco: Machine learning holds great potential in enhancing cybersecurity frameworks

• Infosys, PTC unveil Industrial IoT Centre of Excellence

However, the growing uptake in IoT devices is likely to lead to a further increase in the number of IoT attacks, with a report from Gartner having revealed that 20% of organizations have been subject to one or more IoT hacks within the past three years.

“The rapid adoption of IoT devices and applications is not slowing down and organizations need to have a clear understanding of the risks these devices pose both inside their own and outside their extended networks,” said Charlie Miller, Senior Vice President of the Shared Assessments Program.

In the aim of keeping devices secure and curbing these threats, Gartner predicts that IoT security spending is expected to reach $1.5bn this year, up from $1.2bn in 2017, with regulatory compliance expected to act as a key driver.

“In IoT initiatives, organizations often don't have control over the source and nature of the software and hardware being utilized by smart connected devices,” said Ruggero Contu, Research Director at Gartner.

“We expect to see demand for tools and services aimed at improving discovery and asset management, software and hardware security assessment, and penetration testing.”