New research has found that the Internet of Things (IoT) surpassed mobile as a potential avenue of cyber attack in 2016.
According to the second installment of ISACA’s 2017 State of Cyber Security Study, IoT overtook mobile as primary focus for cyber defenses as 97 per cent of organisations saw a rise in its usage.
The report said as IoT became prevalent in organisations, cyber security professionals needed to ensure protocols were in place to safeguard new threat entry points. More than half (53 per cent) of survey respondents reported a year-over-year increase in cyberattacks for 2016, representing a combination of changing threat entry points and types of threats:
- IoT overtook mobile as primary focus for cyber defenses as 97 per cent of organisations saw a rise in its usage.
- Sixty-two per cent reported experiencing ransomware in 2016 but only 53 per cent had a formal process in place to address it—a concerning number given the significant international impact of the recent WannaCry ransomware attack.
- Malicious attacks that could impair an organisation’s operations or user data remained high in general (78 per cent of organisations reporting attacks).
- Additionally, fewer than 1 in 3 organisations (31 per cent) said they routinely tested their security controls, and 13 per cent never tested them. Sixteen per cent did not have an incident response plan.
This year’s survey respondents indicated that, while cyber security was a priority for enterprise leadership, roadblocks facing cyber security professionals remained.
To download a free copy of this report, click here.