Debate: Should We Be Concerned About IoT Security Or Not?

The Internet of Things (IoT) has never been that far away from cybersecurity discussions in the past few months. It was the topic of conversation at Infosecurity Europe earlier this year and again about IP Expo last month.

In general, the assumption is that the IoT simply isn’t secure and that widespread adoption should be curtailed until these issues are ironed out, so it was surprising to see a Vodafone survey that suggested fears were waning.

And then only this week, a new survey was published suggesting that not only is IoT security insufficient, many businesses are being complacent.

So we thought we’d ask you, the readers, what you think. Here are the highlights from both pieces of research so you can judge and let us know.

ForeScout & Forrester Report

• Only four out of five UK organisations are confident they can see every device on their network
• Fifty-nine percent are willing to tolerate a ‘medium to high’ risk level for IoT devices
• Fifty-four percent are ‘anxious’ about IoT security

Vodafone Annual IoT Barometer

• Only 7 percent of organisations with more than 10,000 connected things are concerned
• Security remains the biggest barrier to adoption but those with IoT deployments were looking to improve training, work with more providers and recruit more specialists

Verdict

So what do you think? Time to vote and comment!