CYBER THREATS TO RISE WITH INTERNET OF THINGS

BUSINESS organizations in Southeast Asia will be more exposed to cyber attacks as the Internet of Things (IoT) gains ground in the region, a security solutions provider said.

The rampant spread of IoT-related cases, which grew by 1,373 percent last year, is showing no signs of slowing down, F5 Networks noted in a recent report titled “Threat Analysis Report: The Hunt for IoT.”

“For Southeast Asia specifically, the threat is imminent,” F5 said, citing a Frost & Sullivan study that reported that 49 percent of organizations in the region would be committed to the IoT for various business uses.

“This means that all connected things—cars, homes and even skin-embedded blood sugar monitors— are going to multiply into a massive avalanche of unsecured endpoints that threaten to consume the already overworked IT departments,” F5 said in a statement.

The IoT is not just about the things but the applications and services that enable them, it noted.

“The unprecedented amount of data that will be flooding the gateway of applications and devices that power IoT hold potentially serious consequences for security threats and privacy regulations,” it said.

F5 said the practice of Zen, which propagates the thought that problems should be solved by treating these as opportunities, was is a good way to approaching the situation.

Gaining self-awareness or—from a security perspective— knowing the existing IT infrastructure and networks, is vital.

In an app-centric environment, one should identify all apps in the network, whether deployed by IT or shadow apps installed by impatient employees, and first secure those deemed to be most vulnerable, the report states.

Security requirements should be considered at every step of the application journey and security should be built into the application rather than bolted on.

Having a strategic security mindset will not only protect data, but will also enhance the customers’ experience and their confidence in brands, it added.

“The recent onslaught of cyber attacks in the region may not be a disaster but, rather, an opportunity for stakeholders to restore balance in the current security infrastructure,” F5 said.