Cybersecurity Impact of Smart Home Growth

A whitepaper by Dr. Wacks
written as
Contributing Analyst to Parks Associates

Abstract

The press regularly reports incidents where consumer data have been lost or stolen. Consumers are concerned about data breaches. The term cybersecurity has been the common label for protecting the transmission of consumer data.

Product developers may offer features that depend on consumers providing personal data. Privacy protection is no longer an abstract concept but can be enabled with appropriate policies, technologies, and products.

There are emerging standards for technologies that allow consumers and service providers to choose and enforce cybersecurity and privacy options. It is now up to designers and manufacturers to incorporate these technologies into products and for service providers to offer privacy choices with opt-in provisions.

Consumers need products with technology that can protect security and privacy. Building in cybersecurity during product design and monitoring system operations for cybersecurity breaches are less costly for manufacturers than fixing problems later and compensating consumers for breaches.

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities influence purchase decisions. Manufacturers who embrace new and advanced cybersecurity measures will be differentiated from competitors and gain a key advantage in reaching out to consumers in this crowded market.

Cybersecurity standards Dr. Wacks chairs the ISO/IEC committee developing cybersecurity standards to protect persons and devices in homes and building. This includes data, privacy, and safety protections.
Dr. Wacks participates in the development of American National Standards for Cybersecurity and Privacy Management by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), including minimum specifications to be incorporated into consumer electronics in order to display the US Cyber Trust Mark.
Cybercrime business impact
Dr. Wacks is a research affiliate at CAMS, Cybersecurity at the MIT Sloan School of Management. CAMS is a worldwide consortium of companies investigating “the fundamental principles of cyberspace, cybercrime, & cybersecurity applied to critical infrastructure."

Click here for the Parks Associates whitepaper.