By Nick Earle, CEO of Eseye 

The network of small but mighty smart devices that are woven into the way we live, farm, communicate, and monitor our health is transforming the world at an incredible pace.

According to Eseye’s State of IoT Adoption Report, the industry is growing fast, with 80% of those surveyed revealing that they plan to increase their network IoT devices in the next 18 months. This growth is a testament to the potential of IoT to revolutionise our lives. However, there are challenges to overcome, particularly in the areas of security and connectivity reliability.

For IoT to reach its full potential, these problems must be ironed out. The more deeply ingrained this technology is in our society, the bigger the problem when things go wrong.

“The respondents in our survey are butting up against significant hurdles,” says Nick Earle, CEO of Eseye, an organisation that provides global IoT connectivity solutions. “They’re struggling to stay ahead of the game, and this year, security has emerged as one of the biggest headaches in IoT.”

Cyber attacks

With hackers constantly evolving and using advanced strategies, IoT security must be robust. However, Eseye’s report revealed that 50% of the industries surveyed experienced a security breach in the past year. In smart vending, respondents suffered from more security breaches than any other sector, with 61% saying they’d been a victim of cyber attacks.

Security is the bedrock of any IoT system and when it fails, the compromised organisation faces disruption, costs and very often, regulatory fines. In 2017, the ICO attempted to fine British Airways £184.4 million after a data breach that affected 500,000 customers. After hearing BA’s testimony the ICO agreed to reduce the fee to £20 million, making it the most significant fine ever for a GDPR breach.

The list of organisations that have suffered similar catastrophic security breaches is long and troubling - easyJet, Virgin Media, the NHS, J.D.Wetherspoon, Three Mobile, TalkTalk and Camelot are all on the roll of dishonour.

Cybercriminals intending to sell the data have accessed credit card details, addresses, driving license details, health and employee records, dates of birth, and phone numbers.

“26% of the organisations in our survey said that devices and data security was one of the most important factors in future-proofing IoT projects. That figure was higher in some industries - 41% said it was a major supply chain and logistics challenge. Consumers will vote with their wallets if they cannot trust that their data is secure,” says Earle.

The good news is that we’re faring better than the US, where 58% of those who took part in the Eseye report have suffered from an IoT security failure, compared to 43% in the UK.

“This difference suggests that the future looks unsafe unless the UK adopts better security measures,” says Earle. “As IoT adoption increases, so too do security risks, especially as a new survey revealed that UK businesses are victims of cyber-attacks every 40 seconds.”

The key to success lies in the quality of the device

58% of the industries that participated in Eseye’s report revealed that issues with the device caused project failures. This underscores the idea that getting the design right from the outset is crucial. Because IoT devices work collaboratively, the smallest flaws in one device can destabilise an entire project. As IoT designers and developers, the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the device design is significant and cannot be overstated.

80% of organisations believe that devices need to become more intelligent and process data at the edge so that operations can be optimised, data processing enhanced, and costs reduced. Measures can be put in place to enable rapid responses when things go wrong.

This puts pressure on IoT designers and developers to find the best and most cost-effective ways of adding the required processing power and intelligence into their hardware. They also need to consider the conditions the devices will have to endure, such as extreme heat in industrial settings, cold in refrigerated storage, and moisture in outdoor environments. These devices are often deployed to remote and inhospitable places where they can be subjected to these conditions.

“The success of an IoT project always begins with device design,” says Earle. “There is reason to be optimistic, though, because, in our 2023 report, 66% cited device design as a reason for project failure, while this figure has reduced to 58% in 2024. That’s still high, but it’s a downward trend that I expect to see continue.”

Connectivity

While device security was identified as the most pressing concern in the Eseye report, connectivity remains a significant challenge. Less than half a percent (0.4%) of the businesses surveyed achieved an average connectivity rate above 98% across their devices.

“Now industries can see the benefits of IoT devices; they are keen to take ownership of connectivity. 77% of organisations prefer to work with a managed IoT connectivity service provider, which will continue.”

The problems are not insurmountable

While IoT projects have been affected by various issues, this hasn’t dented their success and growing popularity. IoT projects are predicted to generate $19.63 billion by the end of 2024, rising to $31.37 billion in 2029. This growth potential should inspire us to continue our efforts in overcoming the challenges of IoT adoption.

“The opportunities are vast when IoT is delivered well and to do this everything in the chain must be optimised from design through to connectivity, security, planning and device management,” says Earle.

For the full research findings, get a copy of Eseye’s 2024 State of IoT Adoption report.