The adoption of blockchain technology to secure Internet of Things or IoT data, devices, and services has doubled in a year, according to a study conducted by digital security company Gemalto.
In its report titled The State of IoT Security, Gemalto noted that blockchain is emerging as a potential technology and an IoT security tool. The use of blockchain has doubled to 19% from 9 percent in the last 12 months.
In its survey of 950 IT and business decision makers globally, Gemalto found that around 48 percent of businesses only can detect if any of their IoT devices suffers a breach, despite companies having an increased focus on IoT security.
Blockchain technology gains its place in securing IoT devices, with 23 percent respondents believing that blockchain would be an ideal solution for the purpose. Further, 91 percent of organizations that don't use the technology currently are likely to consider it in the future.
The company found that along with blockchain, businesses continue to employ other methods to protect themselves against cybercriminals. The majority, around 71 percent, encrypt their data, while 66 percent go for password protection and 38 percent go for two factor authentication.
With the number of connected devices set to top 20 billion by 2023, Gemalto called the businesses to act quickly to ensure their IoT breach detection is as effective as possible.
Jason Hart, CTO, Data Protection at Gemalto, ".. while it's positive they are attempting to address that by investing in more security, such as blockchain, they need direct guidance to ensure they're not leaving themselves exposed. In order to get this, businesses need to be putting more pressure on the government to act, as it is them that will be hit if they suffer a breach."
Hart added that with no consistent regulation guiding the industry, it's no surprise the threats, and, in turn, vulnerability of businesses, are increasing. This will only continue unless governments step in now to help industry avoid losing control.
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