Executives Say Profits Await in Securing ‘Internet of Things’
SAN FRANCISCO -- Profits are to be had in the growing market for securing networked devices, executives said at the Amphion Forum Wednesday. Providing companies with simple security solutions for an ever-increasing array of devices could prove to be hugely profitable, said Bev Crair, general manager of Intel’s Intelligent Systems Framework Division. “There is a huge market opportunity here if we can make this simple,” she said. “If we can come up with simple, effective ways … to define what it means to be secured, connected and managed … there is money to be made here for all of us."
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Successfully securing the “Internet of Things” could unlock even higher profits for the broader business community, said Adrian Turner, CEO of non-PC smart device security company Mocana. His firm estimates the economic benefits of connecting nearly every device to the Internet -- from thermostats to industrial systems -- could be $4.5 trillion. “If we don’t get ahead of this issue, the impact is going to be enormous across the world,” he said. “The promise of connected devices … is at stake."
Threats to connected devices are becoming stronger and more complex, Turner said: “The threats are real and they are changing exponentially.” The success of Google’s Android platform has made it an easy target, Turner said.
Regulations on security compliance are inevitable, Turner said. “But if you look at those industries where regulation is heavy, what ends up happening is the compliance requirements serve the lowest common denominator,” he said. “It becomes a check-box mentality versus a mentality of innovating and evolving to deal with adaptive threats,” he said.
But government requirements on device security could prove problematic. “The government is really the last in line in terms of keeping up with technological changes,” said Lee Cocking, vice president-corporate strategy for Fixmo. Evaluating security is a problem even without government involvement, said Dave Kleidermacher, Greenhills Software chief technology officer. “The government has to mandate the right levels of security, but every government security standard I've ever seen sucks, to put it simply,” he said. “Billions have been spent on evaluations … that really aren’t worth the paper they're printed on.” Experts need to get together to create something “people really rally around,” he said: “An evaluation of security that really works.”