IoT Security: Big Opportunities from Billions of Devices

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

 

The rapid rise of a new generation of connected, intelligent devices — collectively known as the Internet of Things or IoT presents vast opportunities for organizations to improve internal efficiencies, serve customers better, enter new markets, and even build new business models.

It has been predicted that there will be 24 billion IoT devices installed by year 2020 (41% CGAR), which is equivalent to 3.5 to 4 devices per person in the entire world. About $6 Trillion will be invested on IoT devices with the expectation of $13 Trillion in ROI. Most investments are happening in the Application Development, Hardware, System Integration & Storage compared to Security, it is a huge concern as well a big opportunity.

Some Insights! 

$– The economic impact of the Internet of Things will be measured in $trillions.

∑ – The number of connected devices will be measured in billions.

∞ – The resultant benefits of a connected society are significant, disruptive and transformational.

The rapidly growing connected world exposes to a massive attack through everyday vulnerabilities in IoT are being exploited with malicious content, which can be mitigated.

IoT Disruption: IoT can improve internal efficiencies, serve customers better, and even build new business models. High volume of IoT devices is coming online and has increased our exposure to cyber threats. Security in IoT devices and their connecting networks is key to assess early. We are still early in a current IoT protection framework for implementation of this technology. Today, to prevent rogue commands and communications or data leakage is a much-needed priority. The DDoS attack against Dyn from 2016 was an exposed to come from connected devices.

Business Opportunities: IoT security requires a multilayered approach. There are opportunities to secure the communication at all layers. We see an evolving opportunities in one of the following areas.

• Assessing the business risk
• Data and connected device protection
• Business needs to align IoT strategy and security
• Solving regulatory and legal issues

Emerging Security spotlights

Connected car

The potential for a hacker to unlock and enable a car’s ignition or remotely take over mission-critical systems — brakes, steering, transmission — has caught the attention of consumers, manufacturers, and legislators.

Industrial Devices

Protect data about manufacturing operations and to prevent unauthorized access to interconnected networks and facilities.

Health Monitoring Data

Patient information is already a favorite target of cybercriminals.Beyond data vulnerability, the risk of outsiders taking control of some devices has critical health implications

Early stage and emerging companies creating  big opportunities from billions of devices.

Company	Space	Year	Investment	Location	Information
Zitovault	Smart Homes, Industrial IoT	2016	Un-disclosed	California	Company’s patent protected software focuses on scalability while maintaining a lightweight footprint on the client’s side
Karamba Security	Automobile IoT	2015	$5M	Michigan, Israel	IoT Security solution called “Carwall” that targets the Electronic Control Units (ECUs) within automobiles and ensures that all cars are protected
Argus Cyber Security	Connected Automobile	2013	$30M	Israel	Embedded or aftermarket based, already supports advanced safety features and improved passenger experience which will enable the autonomous car.
Thetaray	Finance Service & Industrial Internet	2013	$25M	Israel	Develop a security solution that uses machine learning and big data to identify anomalies in all kinds of domains.
ZingBox	Healthcare, Industrial Internet	2014	$1.5M	Silicon Valley	Targets healthcare and the industrial internet. uses machine learning to automate device discovery, network behavior profiling, and anomaly detection.
Trillium	Automobile	2014	Undisclosed	Japan	2015 they delivered their IoT security platform called “HeavenZ” to an automotive Tier One and consumer OEM
Mocana	Mobile Security	2004	$65M	SFO	Over 200 major globally-recognized OEMs have integrated Mocana security into their offerings. None of the Company’s engineering is outsourced overseas for security reasons and the platform supports 35 operating systems and 70+ CPUs.
Indegy	Industrial Control Systems Network	2014	$18M	Israel, Palo Alto	Indegy platform provides visibility and control over ICS networks, an area that 92% of manufacturers are concerned about.

Do above companies would ever have the technology to secure IoT, given the volume of devices and given the distributed nature of devices, is it even possible to recover from IoT security breaches if they occur?

We anticipate government involvement / regulations to manage and control IoT security threats and introduce specific standards in this space to best way to secure IoT devices

References

[1] https://iotsecurityfoundation.org/

[2] https://securityintelligence.com/lessons-from-the-dyn-ddos-attack/

[3] https://www.vlab.org/events/iot-security-high-stake-billions-devices/

[4] https://www.business.att.com/cybersecurity/archives/v2/executive-summary/

[5] http://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT