The internet of things offers a wealth of chance for the telecoms industry. It presents mobile operators an opportunity to develop and enhance their client offerings and increase market growth. We’ve already seen the likes of Vodafone delve into the buyer aspect of IoT with the launch of its new “V by Vodafone” bundle, whereby shoppers are charged for the number of connected devices they add to their monthly set up. However, together with this raft of success and varied chances, comes the heightened risk of security breaches.

Operators need to be good with their investment once it involves IoT. It’s all well and sensible chasing new sales leads and initiatives and reaping the rewards, however, security must be high, if not at the highest, of their agenda. With the increased range of devices accessing the core network, operators need to guarantee they set up for the more severe and have prevention measures in place for attainable hijackers. The repercussions of such a breach will have serious consequences for both the operator and user, as any device hijack is a possible entry point to the network for an attack.

Security attacks will come in all completely different shapes and sizes. One of the more common breaches is the “man-in-the-middle” idea, whereby a hacker is looking to interrupt and breach communications between 2 separate systems. This attack will have severe consequences because the hacker in secret intercepts and sends messages between 2 parties after they are under the assumption that they’re communicating directly with one another. Following this, the hacker will trick the recipient into thinking they are still obtaining a legitimate message. These attacks will leave the networks, and end-users, in a position of utmost vulnerability with regards to IoT, due to the nature of the devices being hacked. For instance, these devices are anything from industrial tools, machinery or transportation to innocuous connected “things” like smart TVs or connected fridges.

We all know that the IoT equips the wealth of business and marketing chances for operators. However, to confirm it’s not a temporary fad, security should be taken seriously. Attacks on the networks will have detrimental impacts on both the operators, who will have their name diminished in seconds if vulnerabilities are advertised, and end-users, whose devices, and so livelihoods, are in danger. Now is the time for the business to put down the foundations and realize the tools and protocols required to secure the long run.