IoT Insights

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 showcased exciting wearable devices that bring the perks of mobility and connectivity within reach. Lurking behind all these products, however, are privacy and security concerns that should be answered now.

As the Internet of Everything emerges as one of the biggest technology buzzwords in 2013, cybercriminals lay in wait for the next “killer app” that will let them into the vast information sourced from the new connected devices.

The number of networked devices could top 50 billion by 2020, but we’ve already seen wireless IP cameras and password-protected devices hacked. The arrival of IoE demands security updates that range from better passwords to better network infrastructure.

Millions of computers still have Windows XP and Java in them even as support has ended for both. People who choose to stay with these software, unsupported, form a large collective pool of unpatched vulnerabilities that might be one of the largest in history.

Gartner predicts a 30-fold increase in the use of IoE units from less than a billion in 2009 to 26 billion in 2020. This is due to the low cost of upgrading consumer products to adapt into IoE networks that could lead to connectivity as the standard.

Trend Micro Chief Technology Officer Raimund Genes talks about his predictions for 2014 and beyond. IoE-enabled device users are expected to ward off an increased number of threats while more breaches and law enforcement challenges are expected to rise.

Pricing is an issue when it comes to the adoption of the Internet of Things among consumers. However, even as almost half of them perceive smart devices as luxury items, the trend is expected to gain momentum as technology advances.

The Internet of Everything is the most recent among the three waves of innovation made possible by the Internet. Seeing how threats developed and evolved during the mobile and cloud waves, should IoE users expect the same amount and rate of threat growth?

The annual gathering of the security community in Las Vegas brought about issues of conventional and unconventional threats. These include the implications of new connected IoE devices, digital privacy issues, and unsecured systems.