With a forecast of 4.3 internet-connected devices for every person in 2020, the first thought that comes to mind is security for, and of, those devices. But today, security is the missing thread across consumer IoT (smart cars, laptops, entertainment systems), commercial IoT (connected medical devices and inventory controls), and industrial IoT (connected electric meters, pipeline monitors and flow gauges). Given the scope and variety of these connected devices in industries that touch every corner of our lives, the implications for networks, and especially security, are huge, John Maddison, SVP of products and solutions for Fortinet explains in an article for IoT Evolution.
Maddison explains that there are significant benefits to IoT devices being woven into our everyday lives, but there are also significant threats. “While automating decisions and processes at machine speeds can generate revenue, improve our quality of life, make us more productive and even save lives, it also introduces new risks and expands the threat landscape,” he explains.
Maddison alsocorrectly sums up the challenge of security when he writes that many IoT devices were never designed with security in mind. As such, IoT challenges include weak authentication and authorization protocols, insecure software, firmware with hard-coded back doors, poorly designed connectivity and communications, and little to no configurability.
Read more from Maddison about the lack of security in the IoT, and what the IoT security community needs to do to avoid serious harm.
