Global Good Practices: Internet of Things (IoT) Security

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way people live, do business, and interact with their governments. The IoT’s massive interconnections of devices, or “things”, lead to new efficiencies and capabilities and unlock tremendous value for consumers, organizations and governments. These technologies can improve government operations, support better living, create new business opportunities, and support stronger and safer communities.

But these advantages come with enormous challenges. Consumer privacy and safety can be undermined by the vulnerability of individual devices, connectivity and back-end infrastructure, and the wider economy faces an increasing threat of large scale cyber-attacks launched from large numbers of insecure IoT devices. By some measures, at this moment less than 4% of IoT devices are secure by design. For IoT to be successful, useful and acceptable, the hazards that come with the introduction of IoT must be managed to risk levels acceptable to society.