More than two-thirds of cybersecurity professionals have no confidence they would be able to prevent a wireless attack, the second instalment of the Wireless Security: 2020 Internet of Evil Things report by Outpost24 has revealed. The study has highlighted the extent to which cyber-experts are concerned about the additional threats posed to organizations by the growing number of shadow internet of things (IoT) and wireless devices in workplaces.
The number of IoT devices throughout the world is projected to increase to 20.4 billion, which will substantially expand the potential attack points organizations face. Of the more than 200 cybersecurity professionals questioned in the study, 71% thought that efforts to monitor and protect against rogue devices and access points should be ramped up.
The study also revealed there was a worrying lack of preparedness by businesses regarding this growing danger, with 57% of respondents admitting that their security teams do not clear device purchases prior to accessing corporate networks. In addition, 53% of those polled were unaware of how many devices are connected to their network, while only 30% said they ensure Bluetooth pairing or wireless connection requires security authentication before gaining access to networks.
Yet 61% of security experts said they believe bring your own device (BYOD) offers a serious threat to their organization and 21% fear attacks via office-based IoT devices such as printers and coffee machines.
Bob Egner, head of product at Outpost24, said: “With the threat of wireless network attacks increasing every day, organizations must implement the tools to actively identify all BYOD, IT and IoT devices on the wireless network. Further, they need to monitor for indicators of exposure and attack as part of their vulnerability management process to ensure they are not blindsided by the hidden attack surface wireless technologies bring.”
The forms of wireless attacks that the security experts surveyed said posed the greatest threat were password theft (62%), Botnet/Malware (60%) and Man in the Middle attacks (55.5%).