Internet of Things (IoT) Security Trends in 2021
While work from home has generated a whole new level of security threats, the Internet of Things (IoT) promises to up the ante even further.
Think about the havoc caused by hundreds of millions of people suddenly working from home. This severely weakened and, in some cases, overwhelmed corporate security defenses. IoT could magnify such challenges.
IoT may not be top of mind right now due to the scourge of ransomware. But it will no doubt rise again as the number of connected things grows exponentially.
5 Trends in IoT Security
1. Another major expansion of the organizational perimeter
The IoT magnifies the threat level by several orders of magnitude. We are talking here about tens of billions of connected devices.
IDC estimates that 41.6 billion connected IoT devices or things will be generating 79.4 ZB of data by 2025. Every one of them opens a door to the enterprise.
Vendors have already come out with some IoT security-related tools. But the market remains largely in its infancy. Once the threat becomes more real, vendor offerings will multiply and grow in sophistication. For organizations, this all adds up to them having to secure an ever-widening net.
2. IoT will generate a LOT more data
With the growth of connected IoT devices will come another major rise in data.
There is a debate ongoing as to where that data will reside. Some say almost all will stay at the edge. Others want a lot more of it sent to major data centers. Regardless, data must be secured. Even if it is only information concerning the location of a car for a few moments, anyone being lax on access to that data will catch serious privacy heat.
Whether data is at the edge, in the data center, or in the cloud, all of it will have to be fully secured.
“We see a rise in edge computing devices that will reduce computer power in the IoT devices, but these will need to be managed and secured,” said Ashley Leonard, president and CEO of Syxsense.
He made the point that the impact of IoT will be further magnified once 5G really gains traction.
“5G and IoT will revolutionize the way we work and communicate but most importantly, the way we access information,” Leonard said. “Current IT…