Survey Points to IoT Security Concerns

Information security professionals don’t feel ready for the Internet of Things, suggests survey data from Tripwire, Inc.

The digital security company polled 220 such individuals at the recent Black Hat USA 2016 security conference in Las Vegas, and found that only 30 percent of respondents said they felt their organizations were prepared for security threats related to IoT devices. Sixty-six percent weren’t even confident that their organizations accurately monitor the IoT devices connected to their networks.

That’s of even greater concern given that 47 percent of respondents said they expect the number of IoT devices connected to their networks to grow by at least 30 percent next year. Indeed, Tripwire cites a Cisco forecast predicting the number of connected devices around the world to exceed 50 billion by the year 2020.

The findings point to the need for increasingly sophisticated security technologies, with many experts having suggested solutions such as biometric authentication to cope with the emerging challenges of the IoT. As Tripwire CTO and VP of R&D Dwayne Melancon commented in a statement announcing the survey results, “The large number of easily compromised devices will require a new approach if we are to secure our critical networks.”