Managing IoT Data SECURITY RISKS

The Need to Secure Data in Modern Computing

We are surrounded! Smart devices are everywhere and being integrated into all facets of our lives, from toothbrushes to automobiles. Entire cities are becoming ‘smart’, as are factories, governments, global retail, freight logistics, and all national critical infrastructure sectors. As individuals, we are becoming hubs for multiple connected devices in our homes and on our persons. Phones, watches, health monitors, medical devices, and clothing manufactures have joined in to develop connected apparel and accessories. Cameras, doorbells, appliances, televisions, thermostats, voice assistants, and light fixtures are just the beginning of the digitalization of our homes. These wonderful tools of the modern world, some no bigger than a coin, provide amazing capabilities and tremendous convenience; they connect and enhance our lives in amazing ways.

Unfortunately, they also introduce equitable risks. The aggregated risks from all the Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, now approaching 50 billion in number, adds up to a big problem for everyone.

Sadly, the dark secret is that IoT and their close cousins Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices which we typically embrace, are very insecure. These systems are notoriously hackable; the data they create and share is often vulnerable to…