Only 2% of IoT-generated data analyzed, only 11% of IoT makers’ budget spent on security

Internet of Things still lacks security, regulation, and sensibility, while users are greatly concerned about its impact on privacy and quality of life. These are the results of IoT research made by Cyber Security Research Institute at the request of F-Secure.

Some highlights and quotes:

• Over the next two years, the number of IoT devices will grow from 9 devices per household currently to 500 by 2022 according to the research house Gartner. By 2020 over half of web searches will be voice activated.”
• IoT connectivity will be bundled into products whether people want it or not. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of F-Secure, said that in the future, devices without IoT capabilities may be more expensive because they'll lack data that can be harvested by manufacturers.
• Some market players plan to connect devices to the internet by light and sound. New sensors are being developed that can percept a huge range of different stimuli from pressure to smell.
• According to the market analysts IDC, the market for IoT devices in 2015 was $800 billion. By 2020 it will have risen to $1.3 trillion with manufacturing, transport, and utilities as categories with most spendings.
• 84% of old people want to have IoT technology if it means that they can stay in their house for longer. The main reason that the elderly gave for adopting the technology was for health monitoring purposes, the second was to maintain their independence, the third was that IoT would make them not lonely.
• According to an October 2017 survey conducted by Gemalto, 65% of consumers are worried hackers will take control of IoT devices. The survey also found that 60% were concerned about their data being leaked and 54% are concerned about personal information being compromised.
• The research also found that 96% of organizations and 90% of consumers said there is a need for IoT security regulations. More than half of those surveyed confirmed owning an IoT device, but only 14% knew how to protect it.
• IoT manufacturers and service providers only spend 11% of their total budget on securing their devices. Two-thirds of organizations use encryption as their main security, with 62% encrypting data as soon as it hits the device and 59% cloaking it as it leaves it.
• In March 2017, a survey by Gartner found that almost two-thirds of consumers are worried about IoT devices in their homes eavesdropping on their conversations.
• Perhaps even more disturbingly for the technology industry, the survey also found that most people were not convinced that they needed a smart home. Many of the benefits of a smart home, such as automating tasks around the house such as dimming and turning off lights, controlling heating systems and carrying out other household tasks left people cold, with 75% of the 10,000 people contacted responding that they would rather do those things themselves than have an IoT device do them.
• On the other hand, IoT has already found a home in industry and is delivering real returns. Dr. Pugh from IDTechEx explains: “Enterprises are buying into IoT to save money. They’re doing it to either get predictive maintenance or real-time monitoring of their equipment. Companies are seeing cost reductions, even though at the moment only 2% of the data collected is analyzed.