New research from Illinois-based global IT association ISACA has found that few European IT departments or workplaces are ready for the invasion of wearable technology and other connected devices.
According to the 2014 IT Risk/Reward Barometer * — a 110-country survey of ISACA members who are business and IT professionals — 43% of respondents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) say their organisation has plans in place to leverage the Internet of Things or expects to create plans in the next 12 months. However, as Jeremy Cowan reports, the majority are not ready for wearable technology in the workplace.
More than half (57%) say their “bring your own device” (BYOD) policy does not address wearables and a further 24% do not even have a BYOD policy in place. This is a concern, as approximately 8 in 10 respondents (81%) say BYOW (bring your own wearables) is as risky as — or riskier than — BYOD.
The annual IT Risk/Reward Barometer is a global indicator of trust in information. Conducted by ISACA, a global association of more than 115,000 IT security, assurance, risk and governance professionals, the barometer polls thousands of business and IT professionals and consumers worldwide to uncover attitudes and behaviours about essential technologies and information, and the trade-offs people make to balance risk and reward. The study is based on September 2014 online polling of 1,646 ISACA members from 110 countries. Additional online surveys were fielded by M/A/R/C Research among 1,209 consumers in the US, 1,001 consumers in the UK, 1,007 consumers in India and 1,007 consumers in Australia. The US survey ran 8-11 September 2014, and the UK, India and Australia surveys ran 8-17 September 2014. At a 95% confidence level, the margin of error for each individual country sample is: US: +/- 2.8 % and UK/India/Australia: +/- 3.1%.
Overall, half of ISACA members across EMEA believe the benefit of the Internet of Things outweighs the risk for individuals (50%), while nearly a third believe the risk outweighs the benefit for enterprises (31%). Yet despite the risks, nearly a third (30%) say the Internet of Things has given their business greater access to information and a quarter (25%) say it has improved services in their organisation. Approximately four in 10 hope to benefit from improved services (40%), increased customer satisfaction (39%), and greater efficiency (38%) as a result of connected devices.
Despite the benefits of connected devices, more than half (51%) of respondents believe the biggest challenge regarding the Internet of Things is increased security threats, while a quarter (26%) are concerned about data privacy issues. Two-thirds (68%) admit they are very concerned about the decreasing level of personal privacy. More than a quarter of respondents say the general public’s biggest concerns about connected devices should be that they don’t know how the information collected on the devices will be used (28%) or they don’t know who has access to the information collected (26%).
‘The Internet of Things is here to stay, and following the holidays, we are likely to see a surge in wearable devices in the workplace,” said Ramsés Gallego, international vice president of ISACA and security strategist and evangelist with Dell Software. “These devices can deliver great value, but they can also bring great risk. ISACA’s research found that more than a third (35%) of EMEA ISACA members believe Big Data has the potential to add significant value, yet one-fifth (21%) admit their organisation lacks the analytics capabilities or skills to deal with it. Companies are seeing the benefits of these technologies but also the challenges that represent for the Privacy, Assurance, Risk Management and Cybersecurity dimensions, With these new technologies and tools at the forefront of business innovation, companies must begin an ‘embrace and educate’ and ‘adapt and adopt’ approach with connected devices and Big Data.”
ISACA recently established the Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX) as a resource that enterprises and security professionals can turn to for security guidance. Additional information can be found at www.isaca.org/cyber.
ISACA’s IT Risk/Reward Barometer examines attitudes and behaviours related to the risks and rewards of key technology trends, including the Internet of Things, Big Data and BYOD. The 2014 Barometer consists of two components: a survey of 1,646 ISACA members who are IT and business professionals around the world, including 603 across EMEA, and a survey of more than 4,000 consumers in four countries, including 1,001 in the UK.
ISACA® (www.isaca.org) helps business and IT leaders build trust in, and value from, information and information systems. Established in 1969, ISACA is a source of knowledge, standards, networking, and career development for information systems audit, assurance, security, risk, privacy and governance professionals. ISACA offers the Cybersecurity Nexus™, a set of resources for cybersecurity professionals, and COBIT®, a business framework that helps enterprises govern and manage their information and technology. ISACA also advances and validates business-critical skills and knowledge through the globally respected Certified Information Systems Auditor® (CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control™ (CRISC™) credentials. The association has more than 200 chapters worldwide.
* For the full survey report visit: www.isaca.org/risk-reward-barometer