Just imagine the stress caused by hundreds of millions of people suddenly working from home, severely weakening and in some cases overwhelming companies’ security defenses. While working from home creates new security threats, the Internet of Things (IoT) will amplify these challenges. There is no doubt that as the number of connected devices grows exponentially, IoT security will become a top concern across all industries. Here are the top five IoT security trends for 2021:
Another major expansion of organizational boundaries
IoT amplifies the threat level by orders of magnitude. IDC estimates that by 2025, there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices or things generating 79.4ZB of data, each of which will open a door for enterprises.
Vendors have launched some tools related to IoT security, but the market is still largely in its infancy. Once threats become more real, vendors’ offerings multiply and become more sophisticated. For organizations, this all leaves them having to protect an ever-expanding network.
The Internet of Things will generate more data
As IoT devices continue to grow, data will experience another major growth. There is still a lot of debate about where this data will be stored. Whether it is stored at the edge, in the data center or in the cloud, all data must be completely secure. Moreover, once 5G truly takes off, the impact of the Internet of Things will be further amplified.
5G and IoT will revolutionize how we work and communicate, but most importantly, how we access information. Additionally, current IT security models that focus on perimeter security will not be effective when 5G devices connected directly to the internet expose corporate data. Who can see your data? Who owns your data? These questions require deep thought.
The need for standards
Standards are critical in IT. Imagine what would happen if a dozen vendors and dozens more startups built their own different protocols and systems to manage the Internet of Things. It would be chaos.
Security becomes a nightmare due to lack of integration. In fact, the lack of standards may be used as an excuse for failing to secure IoT systems and data. Many IoT device vendors have their own methods for security updates, but there is no standard.
If the Internet of Things truly takes hold, sensors and devices will be everywhere—in every vehicle, every piece of equipment, on every factory floor. Standards are critical to simplifying security for all devices.
Automation will become the biggest element in security
Automation is already a major trend in security. For example, it is used to search through mountains of “logs” to isolate patterns and anomalies. Machine learning (ML) is also becoming an important part of security in areas such as risk management, threat intelligence, and security information and event management (SIEM).
However, with IoT, we can expect more automation. When you’re dealing with transactions on the order of tens of billions, you can’t expect security administrators to handle it manually. As a result, automated security will become an increasingly important part of the security arsenal.
Attack points get wilder
The IoT offers so many new attack points, many of which haven’t even been imagined yet. For example, hackers can remotely control vehicles. Otherwise, planes, trains and transportation systems would be added to the list of possible targets. Then you have drones, Alexa or Google devices, smartphones, computers, garage door openers, home heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), other building control systems, elevators, factory systems, warehouses and robots, to name a few. Most companies don’t even know what IoT systems are connected to their corporate network, which has huge security implications.
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