IoT security concerns; the stakes are high
There’s no question that one of the biggest trends of 2015 will be the push to make all things connected. At CES 2015 in Las Vegas, most announcements and product reveals centered around the “Internet of Things.”
“This is the year of the wearable, everybody is talking about the wearable, certainly here from a CES point of view. If you look at automotive, we went from just a few brands and models of cars being connected, to now almost everything being connected,” said Fred Yentz, president and CEO of ILS Technology, a Telit company.
In fact, Gartner predicts that the connected automotive industry will grow by 96% in 2015. The company also forecasts that a total of 4.9 billion connected devices will be in use by the end of 2015, and that number is expected to reach 25 billion by 2020.
Speaking at CES 2015, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said that IoT has the potential to improve everything from global health to economic growth, but stressed that along with the benefits of connected devices come serious privacy and security risks.
“Any device that is connected to the Internet is at risk of being hijacked. Like traditional computers and mobile devices, inadequate security on IoT devices could enable intruders to access and misuse personal information collected and transmitted by the device,” said Ramirez.
Several companies, including Telit Wireless, are now laying out blueprints to secure the IoT. Telit is currently working to raise awareness around its solution, which is designed to maximize security and privacy in handling personal information.
“In terms of connecting devices and making sure that we’re managing that information flow until it gets to the enterprise where it can be consumed, we’re taking some great measures there. So things around embedded security, embedded sims to make sure people can’t tamper with sim and change the connection profile to the thing is something that Telit does very well and frequently,” said Yentz.
Ramirez said that one thing is clear in the IoT world, and it’s that the stakes are too high to wait any longer to secure connected devices.
“So, as we commit to New Year’s resolutions, we should also resolve to take appropriate steps for the IoT to flourish and reach its full potential across our economy in a way that does not harm or sacrifice consumer privacy,” she concluded.
