#6.

The IoT skill gap 

Companies are facing a vital IoT skills gap that is preventing them from
exploiting new opportunities to the full, according to Forbes (30 July 2019).
As it's not always possible to hire new talents, the option is to rely on existing
teams.
Training and upskilling programs need to be put in place.
Additional insightful workshops, hands-on newsletters, and bulletins,
"Hacker Fridays," where team members can try to hack a specific smart
device, can make a huge difference.
The more your team members are capable and prepared about the IoT; the
more powerful your IoT will be.
 

Addressing IoT security risks

There's no denying that IoT security is complicated, but professionals in the
field know perfectly well the best practices for efficient risk assessment and
mitigation. 

Expert collaboration simplifies IoT deployments.

One of the key tenets is that security must be considered at the very
beginning of the design process, with the expert knowledge mobilized as
early as possible – from outside the firm if necessary.
This method leads to better security - no doubt about it.
Remember:
 The later the process of assessing, testing, and hardening IoT solutions is
left, the more difficult and costly it is to get it right. 
 Worse yet, discovering critical weaknesses or inadequate contingency
plans only after a breach has happened can be more costly still. 
This is especially true for small businesses. 
A 2018 report by Hiscox found that it takes small businesses longer to
recover from a cyberattack, which means more disruption and revenue loss.
In other words, call the experts, and the sooner you start, the better.

IoT cybersecurity from the ground up

Cybersecurity in IoT is absolutely vital, according to Steffen Sorrell, a
Principal Analyst at Juniper Research.
The first stage for companies is building security from the ground up and
focusing on the fundamentals.
That means assessing the risks the devices and the networks are involved in. 
For smaller businesses or businesses that are not overly familiar with security
best practices, the best way forward is to bring in some third-party expertise
to assess risk and provide them with the best solution to move forward.
Technology that can be implemented to improve IoT security involves
several solutions.
 First of all, it's the secure element, for example. It can be soldered onto the
device and will provide secure cryptographic functions.
 Another key hardware element of the security chain is the hardware security
module (HSM). Here this will combine with public key infrastructure to
handle the secure distribution of cryptographic keys to ensure that data and
communications are encrypted.
Wrapping up with Steffen Sorrell
 "Really, the fundamental aspect is to ensure that data and applications are
protected all ways."
The importance of security by design in achieving proper IoT security cannot
be overstated, particularly when IoT devices will be in the field for ten or
twenty years.
So, security solutions need to be flexible. That means that credentials, digital
certificates, and cryptographic keys must be renewed.
Life cycle management is essential. 
We need to be considered security from the ground up (devices, networks,
applications, cloud) holistically in terms of how they can be protected not
only now but for future considerations.

Effectively handling IoT security concerns.

Overall cybersecurity strategy must aim to protect three core pillars that
underpin connected devices and services: 
 Confidentiality, 
 Integrity, 
 Availability.
Ensuring that the goals of the three security pillars are met is a question of
proper security by design. 
By implementing the suggested security options such as device and
authentication management solutions, based on encryption techniques, with
the expert knowledge mobilized as early as possible, companies can prevent
unauthorized access to data, devices, and software.
In turn, these controls help ensure data integrity and service availability.