90 percent of consumers lack confidence in the Internet of Things security

This comes as more than two-thirds of consumers and almost 80% of organizations support governments getting involved in setting IoT security.

Two thirds of respondents are concerned that hackers may take control of their device. In fact, this was more of a concern than their data being leaked (60%) and hackers accessing their personal information (54%). Despite that 54% of consumers have an IoT device (on average two), just 14% believe that they are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the security of these devices.

The study also found that companies recognize the importance of protecting devices and the data they generate or transfer with 50% of companies adopting a security by design approach. Two-thirds (67%) of organizations report encryption as their main method of securing IoT assets with 62% encrypting the data as soon as it reaches their IoT device, while 59% as it leaves the device.

Businesses are realizing that they need support in understanding IoT technology and are turning to partners to help, with cloud service providers (52%) and IoT service providers (50%) the favored options. When asked why, the top reason was a lack of expertise and skills (47%), followed by help in facilitating and speeding up their IoT deployment (46%).

While these partnerships may be benefiting businesses in adopting IoT, organizations admitted they dont have complete control over the data that IoT products or services collect as it moves from partner to partner, potentially leaving it unprotected.