Internet/ IoT/ Mobility – the newest Cyber threat

Not limited to enterprise, the internet of Things is fast changing the way mankind even lives. The globe is no longer a connected entity where communication is seamless; it is now on giant network of connected devices as well. The fantastic opportunities this offers are only offset by the mind boggling risks this kind of connectivity brings. The enterprise does recognise this and has driven the internet security market to a frenzy, where it is expected to ouch USD 43 billion over the next 5 years, says a report by allied market research.

Driven by increasingly innovative and advanced software solutions, the market is standing on the industry adoption of the cloud, and this is ensuring that almost 80% of all enterprises today have at least an arm and a leg on the cloud, maybe more. Obviously, security is much more imperative on this connected network and the cloud that is playing host to it. Internet based applications today cut across verticals, even facilities and citizens’ services, and this magnifies the threat of virus, unethical hackers, botnets and spam that can actually ride on this network. These cybercrime threats could reach the figure of USD 1 trillion soon, and this is the reason for a vast number of internet based security apps. The fact that by 2020, the world would have 35,000 million devices logged on to this gargantuan network is a threat in itself!

Says of Jitendra  Ghughal , National Channel Manager , Fortinet,” Gartner predicts that there will be 33 billion connected endpoints by the year 2020 with a majority comprised of new “headless” device types driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). The proliferation of devices and applications is posing serious challenges for organizations that need to ensure the protection of their entire network and guard against advanced cyber security threats. IoT is a huge management problem for enterprises who traditionally secure their end points with anti-virus and other solutions. With IoT there are many non-user endpoints, content in the form of objects, and content generated by objects without direct user involvement,” he points out.

The reality is even scarier. There are no anti-virus solutions available for your printers, webcams or other devices. This is a real big challenge and this makes IoT a low hanging fruit for hackers to exploit. And as consumers leverage more home automation and other IoT technologies, advanced attackers will look to use employees’ homes as another entry point to the enterprise. Remote working has become commonplace so many employees have access to their corporate network from home. This just means that mass attacks will be much easier to execute and propagate faster

Logging into this is the rapid adoption of mobile applications, and BYOD in enterprise. This is if anything, only adding to the risk. Applications that need to fight this risk are also increasing as fast – it will reach USD 34.8 billion by 2020. This will be a difficult area to control, given the massive adoption of the Bring Your Own Devices culture that s being adopted in SMBs as well as mid size organisations across the globe.

Adds Ghughal, “When it comes to Mobile devices they are ubiquitous on corporate networks and, by their very nature, come and go between highly vulnerable and relatively safe environments. More importantly, though, because most mobile devices are at the mercy of carriers and vendors for their updates, administrators and users often aren’t able to provide security patches in a timely manner. Unpatched security holes are the norm, unfortunately, rather than the exception and the heterogeneity of user devices further complicates management in BYOD and corporate deployments.”