IoT - need for improved security

Whether the connected home will be a success or failure depends very much on the level of security the IoT devices will carry when they enter the citizen’s homes. Today the IoT devices (internet connected household devices, cameras, fridges, gaming consoles etc.) come from businesses that traditionally did not have to consider this aspect since they in many cases were not connected to the outside world. Now for instance the average UK home has some 10 connected devices and 2020 the estimation is an 50% increase to 15, making it 420 million devices in the UK alone. 
Today applying patches is either impossible or at least time consuming since not all devices are reprogrammable or possible to reprogram remotely. Since the roll out of IoT devices is ongoing we will have a big legacy challenge to handle in just a few years where massive amounts of new, secure equipment must be purchased and deployed. This comes at a cost and in the meantime many devices will more or less open for malicious attacks. 
Many attacks today are targeting IoT equipment for the reasons mentioned above and everyone should consider the following when procuring equipment for IoT solutions.
- setting default passwords on devices that are unique and hard for hackers to crack 
​- making sure all sensitive information about you is transmitted securely using encryption 
- ensuring you can delete any personal data on connected products if you want to sell them.

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