Optimize your IoT investments

By Rabab Zehra, Executive Editor, TECHx

You set up your home or office with all of your smart gadgets connected to the internet, offering you all of the comfort and convenience you desire.

The last thing you want to be worrying about after that is the security of yourself and your data.

Being regarded as a crucial component of the fourth industrial revolution, the Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the fastest-growing sectors in technology today. When deployed at a workplace, IoT provides more effective communication among employees and increases productivity.

Despite the apparent benefits of IoT, high-profile breaches and doubts about security and costs are discouraging many businesses from embracing it.

Recently, Palo Alto Networks and Vanson Bourne highlighted the top issues associated with IoT security in their report ‘The Connected Enterprise: Internet of Things (IoT) Security’.

In order to understand the current state of enterprise IoT security in the Middle East, the new challenges, and the possible solutions to these challenges, I spoke with Haider Pasha, Chief Security Officer for Palo Alto Networks, Emerging Markets.

When asked about the massive vulnerabilities in IoT security caused by untrained employees, Haider answered, ‘From a technology perspective, most IoT devices don’t have security features enabled, they come with basic functionality such as default passwords which are not changed. From a people perspective, lack of User Awareness towards IoT Security is a major cause for concern as many users need to understand that IoT should follow the same security standards as IT systems. Therefore, running awareness campaigns to avoid Shadow IoT in the organization is necessary.’    

According to IoT Analytics, expenditure on business IoT solutions increased 12.1 percent in 2020 to $128.9 billion; however, IoT spending is predicted to surge 24 percent in 2021, with the whole market reaching $159.8 billion by the end of 2021.

The first thought that sprang to me after reading these statistics was regarding the return on these investments. Would heavy investments in IoT pay off for organizations?

That was my question to Pasha.

His response was, ‘As we see companies deploy IoT in wider use-cases across industries, we will see the benefits of the technology but also the dangers if proper cybersecurity is not practiced. In order to pay off their investments, a protected IoT deployment can show clear Returns on Investment if the use-case it is being used for is secure and optimized. Running regular risk assessments, penetration testing, cyber drills and evolving the security policies as you expand the IoT use-cases will support any organization’s strategy for IoT.’ 

It is an undeniable fact that the Internet of Things is changing our lives in a big way and will continue to do so. It was then necessary to ask: What will IoT infrastructure look like in the future?

Different use-cases for IoT will be used in the future, we are already seeing examples of how smart cities will be transformed with IoT sensors from the Electric Grid to traffic control systems to Smart buildings. The future state for IoT is for these sensors to communicate directly to each other to improve user experiences such as in the field of Healthcare and Retail,’ says Pasha.

Organizations, in my opinion, should only invest in IoT after developing a solid strategy and assessing the risks. When they do, they’ll have a greater chance of getting the maximum return.