Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity firm, today released their second annual report, The Connected Enterprise: Internet of Things (IoT) Security Report 2021, with research conducted by global technology market research firm Vanson Bourne. The report shows that a majority of regional IT leaders believe that remote working compromises business networks.
Increasingly vulnerable
According to the report, 86% of IT managers in the Middle East believe that remote working compromises business networks due to unsecured IoT devices on their organisation’s business networks.
91% of Middle East IT leaders believe that their company’s approach to IoT security requires improvement. Although 100% of the respondents surveyed in the Middle East have a specific IoT security strategy in place, they also stated that many difficult-to-secure personal IoT devices are being connected to corporate networks by remote workers.
Personal devices expose organisations
Due to Covid, 91% of organisations have seen a rise in the number of connected devices on their organisation’s network. These devices include baby monitors, pet feeders and gym equipment, as a result of the difficulties faced in securing these devices, businesses are at risk of attack. The most common devices attached to the network are pet devices (37%), kitchen devices (36%) and sports equipment (35%).
Haider Pasha, Senior Director and Chief Security Officer at Palo Alto Networks, Middle East and Africa (MEA) said, “As work-from-home models are being normalised amongst many organisations in the Middle East, it is important for security teams to have visibility into all of the IoT devices being connected on corporate networks. Organisations in the Middle East have great confidence in their visibility of the IoT devices connecting to their network totalling up to 82%, which is a big jump from last year’s 72%.”
