文档介绍：How CEOs can tackle the challenge
of cybersecurity in the age of the
Internet of Things
Advanced Industries June 2017
How CEOs can tackle the challenge
of cybersecurity in the age of the
Internet of Things
In the age of the “Internet of Everything”, we are headed for a collision: billions of – often
legacy – devices are being brought online, creating new vulnerabilities and headaches for
executives. Here are six ways CEOs can take back control and avoid the collision.
In the last two decades, we have seen digitization rise to the top of the agenda of executive
boards across the globe. As a result, cybersecurity skills and processes in most companies
have also advanced – though at a slower pace. The fast growth of the so-called Internet of
Things (IoT), however, is changing the game. Cybersecurity is more relevant and challenging
than ever, and companies will need to pick up the pace of capability building in this area.
Companies are increasingly connecting their devices, products, or production systems,
driving rapid growth of the IoT: conventional estimates put the number of connected devices at
20 - 30 billion devices in 2020, up from 10 - 15 billion devices in 2015 (Exhibit 1). The driver
behind this is the enormous potential that the IoT has to make a company’s products and
services better or improve production efficiency. But this potential also comes with a sharp
increase in security risk, taking the challenge of cybersecurity to another level for IoT techno­
logy users. To date, risking the confidentiality and integrity of information was a bigger concern
than any risk regarding availability. In the IoT world, it is the other way around: lack of availability
of key plants or – even worse – tampering with a customer product is the bigger risk. How can
CEOs and senior executives hedge against that threat?
Exhibit 1: The number of connected devices globally will likely double over just 5 years
Estimate