As the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices continues to rise, new research from Irdeto has revealed that eight in ten organizations have experienced a cyberattack on their IoT devices within the past 12 months.
The company's new Irdeto Global Connected Industries Cybersecurity Survey questioned 700 enterprises in China, Germany, Japan the UK and US to learn more about how hackers have targeted their organizations and their IoT devices.
Of the organizations whose IoT devices fell victim to a cyberattack, 90 percent experienced an impact as a result including operational downtime and compromised customer data or end-user safety.
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Irdeto's research also discovered that organizations in transport, manufacturing and healthcare have suffered substantial losses due to IoT-related vulnerabilities with the average financial impact of an IoT-focused cyberattack costing more than $330k.
IoT security
The survey's findings also suggest that the previous mindset of IoT security as an afterthought is changing. While the security mindset may be changing, the research suggests a distinct lack of optimism about the future of IoT security within these organizations with only seven percent of respondents stating that their organization is equipped to tackle cybersecurity challenges.
Surprisingly, 82 percent of organizations that manufacture IoT devices are concerned that their devices are not adequately secured from possible cyberattacks. Additionally, 93 percent of manufacturers and 96 per cent of users of IoT devices said that the security of the IoT devices they manufacture or use could be improved.
Vice President of IoT Security at Irdeto, Jaco Du Plooy offered some useful advice to organizations considering an IoT deployment, saying:
“The benefits brought to a wide range of industries by connectivity and the Internet of Things are not in doubt. However, greater connectivity opens organizations and their customers up to a myriad of additional vulnerabilities that must be considered from the outset. If you want to take advantage of the benefits of connected devices or software, you need to choose wisely where to spend your time and budget. Organizations must understand the scope of their current risk, ask hard cybersecurity-centric questions to vendors and work with trusted advisors to safely embrace connectivity in their manufacturing process. Then organizations must incorporate multiple layers of security into their defenses.”