EDITOR’S QUESTION
WHAT ARE THE
BIGGEST SECURITY
CONCERNS FOR
CONSUMERS WHEN IT
COMES TO IOT?
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C
isco has announced the findings
of its first IoT Value/Trust Paradox
report, based on a survey of 3,000
consumers, designed to provide businesses
with actionable insights on how to increase
consumer confidence in and adoption of
Internet of Things (IoT) services.
The survey results show that, while most
consumers believe IoT services deliver
significant value for them, few understand
or trust how their IoT data is being
managed and used. This conclusion has
revealed an interesting paradox: despite
their lack of trust in IoT data security,
consumers on the whole say that they are
unwilling to disconnect from IoT services,
even temporarily.
These findings indicate that we are
approaching the point of no return at
which consumers irrevocably commit to
IoT being an integral part of their lives.
IoT is becoming so deeply integrated into
consumers’ daily experiences that it is
easier to tolerate uncertainty and risk than
to disconnect.
While the survey reveals that consumers
are willing to accept risk and trade off value
for trust, they do so reluctantly. Their desire
for transparency and visibility into how
their data is being used remains strong.
Companies that can resolve the paradox
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INTELLIGENTCIO
for their customers have the opportunity to
accelerate and sustain the growth of their
IoT businesses.
The data
• Awareness: More than twice as many
consumers recognise personal IoT devices
than public ones. When consumers were
provided with a broad list of devices and
asked to identify which were part of the
Internet of Things, 63% on average
correctly identified personal IoT devices
(wearables, home security systems and so
on), while only 27% were aware of public
IoT implementations (street lighting,
energy meters, traffic systems and so on).
• Value: Across the IoT spectrum, the
perceived value that IoT brings to
consumers’ lives is quite high: 53% of
respondents feel that IoT makes their
lives more convenient, 47% say IoT
makes them more efficient, and 34% say
IoT increases their safety.
• Trust: While consumers are seeing
increasing value in IoT services, they are
very concerned about the security of their
data and how it is being used. Only 9%
of respondents say that they trust that
their data collected and shared through
IoT is secure. And only 14% feel that
companies do a good job of informing
them about what data is being collected
and how it is used.
• The IoT paradox: Consumers value IoT
but don’t trust it. Despite this lack of
trust, they are not willing to disconnect:
42% said that IoT is too integrated into
their daily lives to disconnect from these
devices and services, regardless of the
perceived risk.
The Cisco® IoT Value/Trust Paradox
report recommends that businesses
use these insights and implement the
following steps to address the gap
between value and trust in IoT:
• Establish a clear, concise data
policy and share that with your
users: Companies must be able
to provide transparency into how
they are using and securing data and
how this helps to improve their
customers’ experiences.
• Take granular control of your data:
To increase transparency around IoT
data governance and management,
companies first need an IoT platform
that can help determine who gets what
data, where and when.
• Create accountability throughout
your IoT value chain: Companies must
evaluate all the providers in their IoT
value chain and put IoT solutions in place
to enforce minimum security standards
and requirements so they can hold each
provider accountable.
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