June 25, 2014

Survey Suggests Data Loss And Unauthorized Access Are Key To Internet Of Things

By Daniel Price

Unauthorized Access The high performance network security, enterprise, and data centre firewall company Fortinet have just released the results of their latest survey and found that data loss and unauthorised access are the most important issues facing the internet of things today. The survey, conducted in June 2014, asked more than 1,800 homeowners across the […]

Unauthorized Access

The high performance network security, enterprise, and data centre firewall company Fortinet have just released the results of their latest survey and found that data loss and unauthorised access are the most important issues facing the internet of things today.

The survey, conducted in June 2014, asked more than 1,800 homeowners across the world about the key issues that effected both their belief in and desire to embrace the internet of things.

Other key findings include:

  • A significant majority – 61 percent – claimed that they believed that ‘connected home’ (a home in which household appliances and home electronics are all connected to the internet) is ‘extremely likely’ to become a reality in the next five years. In India – on average the most positive country about the internet of things – the figure rose as high as 69 percent. This is great news for the industry; there are expected to be 9 billion devices connected to the internet of things by 2018.
  • Data security remains a significant issue across all aspects of internet usage, and the internet of things is no different. Nearly three quarters (69 percent) of respondents to Fortinet’s survey said they were either ‘extremely concerned’ or ‘somewhat concerned’ that a connected appliance could result in a data breach or an exposure of sensitive, personal information. India was once again the highest ranked country, with 81 percent of respondents highlighting the issue.
  • The cost of implementing the internet of things in the home is not a deterrent to most users. When asked “would you be willing to pay for a new wireless router optimised for connected home devices”, 40 percent responded with “definitely” and another 48 percent said “maybe”; in a follow-on question more than 50 percent said they would pay more for their Internet service in order to “enable connected devices to function” in their home. Although, despite consumers’ willingness to pay for a quality infrastructure, homeowners across the world still claimed that price was the number one factor likely to influence them, followed by features/functionality and brand.

 

It is inevitable that privacy risks will arise as objects within the internet of things collect and aggregate fragments of data that relate to their service. The collation of multiple data points can swiftly become personal information as events are reviewed in the context of location, time, and recurrence, etc. Similarly to the early days of RFID tags in passports (when US-based passports could initially be read from 10 metres away with eBay equipment worth $250), the manufacturers and developers will need to find a way to eliminate these risks while still taking advantages of the benefits that that internet of things can offer.

By Daniel Price

Daniel Price

Daniel is a Manchester-born UK native who has abandoned cold and wet Northern Europe and currently lives on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. A former Financial Consultant, he now balances his time between writing articles for several industry-leading tech (CloudTweaks.com & MakeUseOf.com), sports, and travel sites and looking after his three dogs.

Exploring SaaS Directories: The Path to Optimal Software Selection

Exploring the Landscape of SaaS Directories SaaS directories are vital in today’s digital age, serving [...]
Read more

AI at the Gate: Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity with SonicWall’s Bobby Cornwell

Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity In the face of the digital age’s advancements, AI’s role [...]
Read more

Lambda Cold Starts: What They Are and How to Fix Them

What Are Lambda Cold Starts? Lambda cold starts occur when AWS Lambda has to initialize [...]
Read more
Jeff DeVerter

Charting the Course: An Interview with Rackspace’s Jeff DeVerter on AI and Cloud Innovation

Rackspace’s Jeff DeVerter on AI & Cloud Innovation In an insightful conversation with CloudTweaks, Jeff [...]
Read more

Azure Free Tier vs. AWS Free Tier: Which Provides More Value?

Cloud computing has become a cornerstone for the digital transformation of businesses. From startups to [...]
Read more
Metasploit-Penetration-Testing-Software-Pen-Testing-Security

Leading Cloud Vulnerability Scanners

Vulnerability Scanners Cyber security vulnerabilities are a constant nuisance and it certainly doesn’t help with [...]
Read more

SPONSORS

SPONSOR PARTNER

Explore top-tier education with exclusive savings on online courses from MIT, Oxford, and Harvard through our e-learning sponsor. Elevate your career with world-class knowledge. Start now!
© 2024 CloudTweaks. All rights reserved.