Internet of Things' rising popularity will increase security risks, business costs
We all know that the Internet of Things is growing, and more and more firms are using the new technology to take their businesses to the next level, but just how big is IoT now, and how much will it grow?
Gartner has given a few interesting predictions, including one which says that more than half of all new business processes and systems will use some form of IoT by 2020.
As the production price of IoT continues to drop, so will its adoption grow.
"Uses of the IoT that were previously impractical will increasingly become practical", said W. Roy Schulte, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "The IoT is relevant in virtually every industry, although not in every application. There will be no purely IoT applications. Rather, there will be many applications that leverage the IoT in some small or large aspect of their work. As a result, business analysts and developers of information-centric processes need to have the expertise and the tools to implement IoT aspects that play a role in their systems".
But it’s not all butterflies and rainbows for businesses implementing IoT -- Gartner predicts 75 percent of all IoT projects will face schedule extensions of up to 100 percent, and firms will have to pay the price.
Hackers will also get in on the action, with a predicted black market for IoT devices selling fake sensors allowing data theft. The black market is expected to be worth $5 billion. Keeping your IoT devices safe means bigger spending for businesses, too. Annual security budgets will have to be increased at least 20 percent because of new IoT elements.
"Major cybersecurity vendors and service providers are already delivering roadmaps and architecture of IoT security, in anticipation of market opportunity", said Earl Perkins, research vice president at Gartner. "Small startups delivering niche IoT security in areas such as network segmentation, device-to-device authentication and simple data encryption are offering first-generation products and services, including cloud-based solutions where applicable. Large security vendors have already begun acquiring some of these IoT startups to support their early roadmaps and fill niches in their portfolios".
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