As I look around my office, I see my laptop, an iPad, several smartphones and an Amazon Echo, as well as wireless mouse, keyboard and smart speakers. The conference room next door has a wireless voice over IP phone used for conference calls with a tablet to control the video conference system, a smart TV and webcams, and there’s a printer in the hallway and another smart TV in the reception area. All of these are connected to the internet, many are wirelessly connected and some are connected to each other via Bluetooth. This is just one office environment, but connected devices are everywhere — in businesses, hospitals, manufacturing plants, power stations, airplanes and government buildings.
The internet of things (IoT) is taking us through the biggest digital transformation the world has ever seen — bigger than both the PC and mobile revolutions combined. Currently, there are an estimated 8.4 billion connected devices in use worldwide this year, and that number is expected to reach at least 20.4 billion by 2020, according to Gartner. To compare, Gartner projects smartphone shipments will rise slightly in 2018 to 1.9 billion and that PC and laptop shipments will decline more than 5% to 193 million. It’s time to meet the new endpoint.
IoT is exploding fast because it brings extraordinary capabilities like improved efficiency, better collaboration and better quality in manufacturing, production, energy and all other sectors. The explosion of connected devices transmitting information all the time allows doctors to receive real-time reports on a patient’s pulse, temperature and other health indicators from afar — and cars can drive themselves.
The inherent connectivity of all these different devices and the fast growth of the IoT industry have created significant security issues that put companies at great risk. During the PC revolution, security vendors developed firewalls, antivirus and other solutions to protect computers from outside threats. Corporations rely on mobile device management and other software for securing mobile devices. However, things are more complex when it comes to the IoT, which creates a big market opportunity. Gartner forecasts that worldwide spending on IoT security will increase to $1.5 billion in 2018, up 28% from a $1.2 billion spend in 2017 and rise 158% to $3.1 billion in 2021.
Why? The proliferation of IoT throughout the enterprise has created a new device that requires a fresh approach to security and more robust technology for defense. These are the new “endpoints” in businesses. Here are three key issues enterprise information technology (IT) teams need to keep in mind as their environments undergo this IoT transformation:
IoT Is Under The Radar
For global Fortune 1000 companies, the sheer amount of smart devices in use is causing an enormous problem due to a lack of visibility. IT teams are often focused on the traditional devices that people use to do their work such as desktops, laptops and servers because there is an established system for tracking and securing them. They can’t pay attention to all the nontraditional connected devices, such as the new connected business devices beyond the computer. Our research shows that enterprises cannot see 40% or more of these connected devices in their environments, and if they can’t see them, they can’t control or secure them.
The post Digital Transformation 3.0: Enter The IoT Blind Spot appeared first on Statii News.
source http://news.statii.co.uk/digital-transformation-3-0-enter-the-iot-blind-spot/
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