Guidance to improve risk management and IoT

As connected devices infiltrate the workplace—some with IT’s knowledge and some without—both value and risk can increase significantly. ISACA has released new guidance urging companies to ask nine critical questions as they grapple with the Internet of Things (IoT).

ISACA recommends companies address:

1. How will the device be used from a business perspective, and what business value is expected?

2. What threats are anticipated, and how will they be mitigated?

3. Who will have access to the device, and how will their identities be established and proven?

4. What is the process for updating the device in the event of an attack or vulnerability?

5. Who is responsible for monitoring new attacks or vulnerabilities pertaining to the device?

6. Have risk scenarios been evaluated and compared to anticipated business value?

7. What personal information is collected, stored and/or processed by the IoT device?

8. Do the individuals whose information is being collected know that it is being collected and used, and have they given consent?

9. With whom will the data be shared?

These questions are particularly critical given that 43 percent of enterprises are leveraging IoT already, or have plans to do so in 2015, according to ISACA’s IT Risk/Reward Barometer survey.

Connected devices are everywhere—from obvious ones, like smart watches and Internet-enabled cars, to ones most people may not even be aware of, such as smoke detectors,” said Robert Stroud, international president of ISACA. “Often, organizations can be using IoT without even realizing it—which means their risk management stakeholders are not involved and potential attack vectors are going unmonitored.”