AT&T, IBM, Nokia, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec and Trustonic are joining forces to form IoT Cybersecurity Alliance to help tackle today's top Internet of Things (IoT) security challenges. The Alliance brings together market leaders in device security, connectivity, data, cloud, and applications.
In the past 3 years, AT&T said it has seen a 3,198% increase in attackers scanning for vulnerabilities in IoT devices. Business leaders recognize the potential threat IoT devices designed without security in mind might pose for their organization. AT&T surveyed companies in 2016, and 58% said they were not confident in the security of their IoT devices.
The IoT Cybersecurity Alliance aims to collaborate and research security challenges of IoT across verticals and use cases such as Connected Car, Industrial, Smart Cities and Healthcare. The IoT Cybersecurity Alliance will take use cases or business challenges in IoT cybersecurity to dissect and advance security concerns and identify ways to implement security across the value chain. These include the endpoint, connectivity, cloud, and data/application layers.
This Alliance includes experts at each of these layers to help educate businesses and consumers on how to protect their connections.
Mo Katibeh, AT&T SVP of Advanced Solutions
Today's businesses are connecting devices ranging from robots on factory floors to pacemakers and refrigerators. Helping these organizations stay protected requires innovation across the whole IoT ecosystem to enable sustainable growth.
Bill O'Hern, Chief Security Officer, AT&T
Be it a connected car, pacemaker or coffee maker, every connected device is a potential new entry point for cyberattacks. Yet, each device requires very different security considerations. It's become essential for industry leaders and innovators like those in the founding members of this Alliance, to work together to help the industry find more holistic security approaches for IoT.
