53% of firms have no IoT visibility

Over half of organisations have no visibility into the number of devices connected to their company network, according to research by Outpost24. If organisations continue to take a ‘head in the sand’ approach towards securing wireless networks, they are giving hackers the leverage they require to exploit the wider network infrastructure, it warned.

“Visibility remains one of the biggest issues in cybersecurity. What you can’t see can indeed hurt you. With higher levels of network traffic and more connected devices than ever, it highlights that current vulnerability assessments are not as extensive as they should be. Wireless threat detection is often ignored or addressed in a reactive manner” comments Bob Egner Head of Products at Outpost24.

The survey also asked respondents if their organisation has or requires any security authentication to initiate Bluetooth pairing or wireless connection to the network. Over half (51%) of enterprises lack pre-existing security controls to examine devices before they join the network. Additionally, almost a quarter (23%) of organisations do not have or are unsure as to whether they have a guest Wi-Fi network for non-employees.

The demand for heightened security awareness and continuous security monitoring into the threats posed by wireless technology has never been greater. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in many workforces working remotely, a lack of visibility into wireless security could prove a significant issue, adds Egner.

“As organisations strive to reduce business disruption, it’s important to implement and integrate the necessary assessment tools to automate discovery and monitoring of wireless threats as part of the vulnerability management process.”

Sixty-nine percent of security professionals admitted to not testing for malicious infections or known vulnerabilities within wireless devices on a weekly basis. This lack of visibility into the wireless airspace indicates that there is either a lack of clarity into wireless security threats or a severe oversight by organisations when it comes to their overall wireless security strategies.