As the IoT moves toward the core of digital business, the integration of security domains will likely introduce game-changing hazards. But, some organizations have executed an integrated IoT cybersecurity program.

In fact, PwC issued its new (4th) installment recently of The Global State of Information Security (GSISS) Survey 2017 –Uncovering the potential of the Internet of Things – focused on how organizations are addressing cybersecurity and privacy for converged technologies. Grant Waterfall, PwC US Cybersecurity & Privacy Deputy Leader, sat down with Inside Counsel to discuss the report and how the right cybersecurity and privacy safeguards can help businesses optimize the promise of IoT.

Until recently, a cybersecurity exploit leveraging the IoT was a theoretical concept. That changed one morning last fall, when an army of IoT devices carried out a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Dyn, a Domain Name System provider. Hundreds of thousands of compromised IoT devices, including cameras, webcams and routers, hit Dyn's headquarters with a DDoS attack that leapfrogged around the world, taking down major websites in its wake. By that afternoon, cybersecurity for the IoT had quickly escalated from an esoteric information security discipline to mainstream news. Suddenly, IoT security and privacy had become a new business priority.