There has been a lot of speculation and buzz around the Internet of Things (IoT) the last year or so. Most of this discussion has centered around the consumer or retail application of IoT and how it will make our lives better.
If you're still wondering whether your wifi enabled refrigerators or thermostats will really make your life easier, I won't be addressing that issue here. What I do want to address is the inherent risks associated with IoT and the increasing opportunities for MSPs to become involved with the IoT movement.
Residential vs Business IoT
Residential managed services has been an urban myth. Everyone talks about it but it is rarely seen. IoT could change the residential landscape for managed services. Whether it does or not, business IoT is has greater likelihood of becoming a reality for MSPs in the next year or two. Why? Internet (or cloud, for those of you too young to remember the dotcom years) enabled devices are becoming more prevalent in business and the more these devices proliferate, the greater chance they have of becoming the focus of a cyber attack.
Let's not forget that one of the larger cyber attacks on a US company, Target, happened through the store's HVAC vendor. Servers and desktops are no longer the obvious points of entry for cyber thieves. IoT is changing the security landscape and this brings greater opportunity for MSPs.
More Devices = More Opportunity
The law of averages says that with more cloud enabled devices the more chance for things to go wrong. It seems that almost everything today can be connected to the cloud. Our watches, our home appliances, our TVs; there is very little in our lives that is disconnected. IoT may be making our lives better, but it is a matter of time before IoT begins to show its darker side and demonstrate the real vulnerabilities we all face.
Critical Infrastructure & IoT
As mentioned above, a third party HVAC vendor allowed a cyber attack into Target's infrastructure. MSPs have more opportunities today than they ever had and this is all thanks to the increasing connectedness of the IoT world. IoT doesn't just apply to home appliances, though. IoT has a definite role to play in the critical infrastructure of regulated industries and security sensitive organizations. Businesses operating within regulated industries and introducing IoT devices into their networks may seem inconsequential at first. But, the possibilities of a cyber attack happening through an IoT device are real.
Critical infrastructure will always be important for IT. But, IoT is created new paths for cyber attackers to access and compromised this infrastructure.
