Page 30 - Cyber Warnings

The benefits of the IoT are hard to ignore as an enabler of improved efficiency and productivity
for enterprise operations, and as a potential market for consumer- and enterprise-focused
products.

The IoT is here to stay, but businesses have to think long and hard about the IoT they want to
build.

Enterprise organizations will not deploy smart devices within their networks if those devices can
easily be used to compromise them.

No one wants a connected fridge or webcam that could potentially be responsible for a massive
data leak.

Enterprise organizations have recognized the seriousness of the problem. Groups like the IoT
Security Foundation were created to facilitate cooperation between major enterprise players in
the field. Members include Vodafone, IBM, BT, and ARM.

But all the good intentions in the world won’t make a lick of difference if companies continue to
market ever greater numbers of devices with security flaws that would have shamed a home
router manufacturer a decade ago.

The Internet of Things has the potential to be transformative, but only if the enterprise aligns
itself with security best practices, even if they result in marginal cost increases.

About the Author
Jamie Madison is the Marketing Director at Steadfast, a leading IT
Data Center Service company. Steadfast specializes in highly flexible
cloud environments, robust dedicated and colocation hosting and
disaster recovery.

30 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – September 2016 Edition
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