Are Retailers Really Ready For the Internet of Things?

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Security challenges will become more complicated with the rise of the IoT

A Zebra Technologies survey has found that retail business leaders believe that the Internet of Things (IoT) can help improve operations, create new revenue streams, and enhance customer experiences, but Booz Allen consultants warn that it will also complicate cybersecurity efforts. 

Zebra Technologies Corporation, a global leader in products and services that provide real-time visibility into organizations’ assets, people and transactions, recently released survey results demonstrating that 96 percent of retailers are ready to make the changes required to adopt the Internet of Things (IoT) and that a majority of retailers think that IoT will be the most important technological initiative of the decade.

 “The advent of new technologies has completely changed the way shoppers interact with retailers, but the shopping experience can be the retailer’s strategic differentiator. With the Internet of Things, retailers will be empowered with the intelligence to make strategic, informed business decisions that improve customer loyalty and associate effectiveness while creating exciting experiences for their shoppers,” asserted Nick D’Alessio, Global Retail Practice Leader, Zebra Technologies.

Yet Booz Allen cautions that, despite the opportunities afforded by the rise of the IoT, it also opens the door to a whole new class of security challenges.  While IoT is still in its infancy, the percentage of data breaches exposing financial information doubled from 18 percent in 2013 to 36 percent in 2014. That means that the coming year will most likely bring with it a new set of security concerns and a necessary shift in how companies respond to cyber threats. 

Traditional approaches to defense will no longer suffice, and the company suggests an "active defense" strategy that uses real-time intelligence and threat assessments data to discover problems as they emerge. Now, the connectedness of our cyber network demands intelligence-driven tools and processes that equip leaders with an anticipatory edge.

“When it comes to data security, the fundamentals have changed,” said Bill Stewart, executive vice president at Booz Allen and leader of the firm’s commercial cyber business. “News of a large-scale data breach is nearly an everyday occurrence, while the scope and long-term damage associated with cyber incidents are escalating.” The Identity Theft Resource Center reported that U.S. data breaches hit a record high of 783 in 2014, a 27.5 percent year-over-year increase.

As more “smart” systems connect to the IoT, firms will must embed cybersecurity protections to prevent data breaches and other compromises, Booz Allen says, and cybersecurity will become a business-critical priority. Bill Stewart stated, “Looking ahead, we see both new, daunting risks and a shift in how companies tackle the cyber security challenge.”

As Demetrio Leon Guerrero, CTO, Acuative, told Retail Solutions Online, “Adopting an effective data-centric security model and applying the appropriate technologies for each security control are the only way forward. No single technology will provide the silver bullet.”

When it comes to protection, Guerrero concludes, “The continued high frequency of cyberattacks has demonstrated that perimeter security is no longer effective. In the world of IoT, there is no reliable method for determining trust, which leads us to the Zero Trust Model. Introduced by Forrester Research, the Zero Trust Model describes a data-centric approach to cybersecurity and protects valuable information while allowing ubiquitous access and interactions between systems. This model flips the mantra “Trust but verify” into “Verify and never trust.” Zero Trust focuses on data, which is central to protecting privacy.”