Data is not just the backbone but the lifeblood of all industries; it can be transactional data in the financial industry or point-of-sale data in the retail industry. This data is connected via Internet of Things (IoT) devices that communicate and share this data at an extraordinary scale. The best part and the worst part of IoT connections are the same; IoT-connected devices, systems, and machines exchange data in real-time. Thus, offering many potential entry points to cybercriminals. The more connected devices, the more threat entry points!
Since 2023, smart infrastructure projects have been highly dependent on IoT technology. Both globally and especially in the Gulf and Asia-Pacific regions, we can see an increase in industrial automation and smart city initiatives. This has resulted in a huge demand for IoT security solutions. The IoT security market share is the largest in Asia-Pacific as organizations in these areas are emphasizing compliance with regulations like GDPR, PCI, HIPAA, and others.
But as history points out, with unprecedented development comes a point of downfall. In the case of IoT, this downfall can be the sophistication of cybercrimes. As global organizations search for more secure solutions, IoT security providers like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and others are using innovation to offer comprehensive security solutions.
Without further ado, let’s dive into some of the basics of IoT security, its importance today, some IoT security examples of common threats, IoT security best practices, and other vital areas of discussion.
What is IoT Security?
IoT application security protects devices and applications from vulnerabilities and cyber threats that can challenge their integrity, functionality, and confidentiality. Today, it is a vital part of software development as it ensures the reliability and security of applications. If you want to dig deeper into the topic of how cybersecurity is related to IoT, you can refer to Importance of Cyber Security in IoT: Common Cybersecurity Issues.
The overall growth of the IoT security industry is based on the rising number of IoT devices (estimated 19.8 billion in 2025!), innovation in cyber threats, and the requirement for continuous security monitoring & adaptation services.
Modern IoT Security Examples
In 2026, IoT devices are everywhere:
- Home automation & wearable tech
- Medical, healthcare, and eldercare
- Transportation
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Maritime
- Deployments in metropolitan scale
- Monitoring environment
- Energy management
- Military
And everything in-between and beyond.
For home automation, IoT devices are extensively used in the form of smart watches, smart applications (Amazon Echo, Google Home), smartphones & smartwatches (iPhone & Apple Watch), and so much more.
In medical care, IoT devices are used for monitoring patients and elders remotely and for emergency notification systems. In 2015, a Goldman Sachs report mentioned that including IoT devices in healthcare “can save the United States more than $300 billion in annual healthcare expenditures by increasing revenue and decreasing cost.”
Integrating IoT in transportation leads to smart traffic management, vehicle and fleet management, vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X, a part of the broader vehicular communication systems), Road assistance, and safety.
There are numerous applications of IoT devices in weather management, pollution control, managing green fuels, the overall sustainability industry, product digitization, and living labs, an integral part of modern research and innovation.
Why is IoT Application Security So Important Today?
According to IoT Analytics, the number of connected IoT devices is expected to reach 39 billion in 2030. If we go by the common theory of: more devices, increased chances of a breach – imagine the massive play area for cybercriminals then.
Some of the vital reasons for the importance of IoT application security are:
Data Security
IoT devices store a huge amount of sensitive data needed for processing and transmitting. The nature of this data can be personal, financial, and intellectual. To maintain the integrity of individuals and organizations, application security protects this data from unauthorized access and tampering.
Attack Prevention
IoT devices are frequent targets of cyber criminals and hackers to disrupt operations or to get access to valuable/ sensitive data. With comprehensive security measure at place, these attacks and related losses can be prevented.
Customer Trust
If a device or IoT application is insecure, customers won’t trust it in their homes or for regular use. It is essential to maintain the security of these devices to gain customer trust and long-term loyalty.
Compliance
As a developer or manufacturer of IoT devices, you must understand the specific requirements for the security of these applications. For example, e-commerce applications that manage credit card transactions must comply with the PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. In case of adherence failure, there are consequences like fines, etc.
Related: 10 Major Cryptocurrency Hacks in History: Biggest Crypto Hacks
Some IoT Security Threat Examples
Even after so many innovations, the IoT security market lacks awareness of regularly evolving security threats. Many newer threat variants are still unknown to industries and organizations globally. This knowledge gap leads to threatening results, most exploitation vulnerabilities, and an inability to implement security systems. To enlighten you, I have listed some 2026 IoT security threats to identify and avoid.
IoT Ransomware
IoT ransomware attacks are on the increase in the corporate sector, as their networks are mostly connected to unprotected networks of the Internet of Things. Criminals use this opportunity to add malware to devices and turn them into malicious bots, explore network entry points, and get credentials from device firmware to infiltrate the network further.
These kinds of ransomware attacks are notorious in all organizations, from small and large to government and food suppliers.
IoT Botnets
IoT devices are the most favored targets of Botnet owners. Botnets enlist devices that have weak security configurations. Cyber attackers use unsecured ports of IoT devices to infect them with malware, phishing, or other malicious threats and integrate them into IoT botnets to launch large-scale cyber attacks. These IoT botnets are commonly used in DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service, attacks to flood the target with uncontrollable traffic.
Shadow IoT
The threat of shadow IoT is generated when IT administrators overlook some devices connected to the network. Many devices, like wireless printers and digital assistants with IP addresses, are installed for employee convenience but do not always comply with security standards.
At times, even the IT team might find it difficult to monitor these IoT devices, which can lead to open endpoints for malicious traffic. This way, hackers can easily access these shadow IoT devices to acquire sensitive information. In worst case scenario, these entry points can give way to massive DDoS attacks or botnet access.
Related: SMB Guide to Cloud Security and Cyber Threats
Best Practices To Avoid Mishaps With IoT Application Security
The growth of the IoT security market is directly dependent on understanding and addressing evolving threat scenarios. Organizations and industries are continuously investing in comprehensive security solutions offered by specialty companies. This helps them in detecting and mitigating vulnerabilities to secure sensitive information, eliminate system disruptions, and maintain operations across their connected ecosystems.
Some of the best practices for IoT application security include,
1. Generating Awareness For Frequent Threats
Generating threat awareness involves detecting, assessing, and prioritizing IoT applications’ vulnerabilities and potential entry points. A successful threat modeling leads to security recommendations to the IT team, who then strategize security measures for IoT applications.
2. Understanding & Prioritizing Risk Factors
Risks to the IoT network come in all shapes and sizes; it’s better to prioritize them according to the level of concern each one possesses. Organizations need to align risks with potential damages and real business scenarios. A single IoT device or app breach might not be considered potent, but it can cause significant financial damage to the organization.
3. Regularly Updating IoT Applications & Devices
Once an update is available for IoT applications, the IT team needs to immediately deploy it for optimum network security. But only after double-checking and approving them. It is advisable to use a VPN or other secure network to encrypt the update streams when updating applications remotely.
4. Utilizing a Service Mesh
If you don’t know what a service mesh is, it is a layer of infrastructure that manages communication between a network’s services. It checks the service requests distribution within an application. Service mesh functions include encryption, load balancing, service discovery, and disaster recovery. It ensures reliable, secure, and quick communications between services.
5. Securing Network
To secure IoT applications from malicious attacks, you need to secure firewalls, communication protocols, and encryption. Keep a check on standards, devices, and communication protocols working in the network for absolute security. Also, IoT applications need to undergo an application security testing process on a regular basis.
6. Implementing Strong Authentication Practices
Regular changes of the default passwords of IoT apps and devices ensure data is not compromised at any point. You can do so by establishing a comprehensive password protection strategy that involves developing secure password generation and update procedures. In addition to passwords, you must also apply multi-factor authentication wherever possible. An encrypted TLS communication protocol protects authentication data from being compromised.
7. Encrypting Data in Transit
You must encrypt data, both in transit and at rest, between IoT applications, backend systems, and devices. For encryption, you can use the PKI security model to authenticate both the receiver and the sender by the system before transmission.
8. Securing API Integrations
APIs are popularly used to communicate, share data, and trigger actions between applications and systems. It also acts as a pathway for cybercriminals to connect with IoT applications. Only allow connections between authorized applications/ devices with APIs to simplify threat detection. From time to time, the IT administrators need to leverage API versioning to detect duplicate or old API versions and remove them from the system.
9. Protecting Control Applications
Proper security is mandatory for devices and systems connected to IoT applications. It reduces the chance of the IoT device or system (client) being compromised and also ensures that the attack doesn’t get out of hand quickly.
10. Monitor IoT Apps Regularly
The final and most vital step of securing IoT apps is to keep them under observation regularly. This way, in case of a ‘situation,’ you can detect and respond to it immediately. This enhances incident response and decreases the attack or threat impact. Regular monitoring also meets compliance easily and helps to gain customer trust.
Conclusion: Trends in IoT Application Security
Zscaler’s report shows a 400% increase in IoT device attacks year by year. The most brutal ones are experienced by the manufacturing industry, accounting for 54.5% of total IoT mishaps.
The overall picture is not this sad, though. According to recent findings, the global IoT security industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 18.4% from 2024 to 2029, reaching approximately $56.2 billion by the end. With the rise in several DDoS and botnet attacks, industries across the globe are recognizing the need for advanced IoT application security measures.
Tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, and Foritnet provides professional security services like risk assessment, professional consultation, administration, and support with managed services for robust IoT network monitoring and maintenance.
Only with the right security measures and threat management in place, individuals and organizations will be able to reap the maximum benefits out of the surging IoT application trends.
