The “2017 Study on Mobile and IoT Application Security”, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM and Arxan Technologies surveyed 593 IT and IT security practitioners to explore how companies are unprepared for risks created by vulnerabilities in IoT apps. The survey found despite the lack of urgency, 84 percent of respondents are very concerned about the threat of malware to mobile apps and 66 percent of respondents say they are very concerned about this threat to IoT apps. To make matters worse, 79 percent of respondents say the use of mobile apps and 75 percent of respondents say the use of IoT apps increase security risk very significantly or significantly.
Respondents also reported being more concerned about getting hacked through an IoT app, 58 percent, than a mobile app, 53 percent.
The findings of the study showed that many people who are aware of the dangers that they face when they use IoT devices are not doing anything to protect their devices from hackers. Other observers have pointed out that many people fail to take charge of their security when they are using IoT devices because they lack the knowledge and resources needed to secure their devices.
According to Brad Bruise, Director of Project Management at StealthBits, a technology firm, “many people are not aware of the many security solutions that they can use to secure their devices and prevent the many risks that they fear from occurring.” It has also been pointed out that the many security flaws that are present in IoT devices and apps are as a result of the manner in which manufacturers rush to get new products to the market without taking due diligence. As long as new IoT devices are increasingly getting used by companies and individuals, there seems to be a great need for individuals and companies to address the issue of the vulnerabilities that these devices and apps have.