London, United Kingdom - 12 Apr 2016

ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, postulates IoT will be the next big market for the cybersecurity industry. While it remains a fragmented market that has yet to consolidate, the ecosystem is expanding with vendors finding their way into three groups: hardware (chipset/SoC/microcontroller), firmware/software (embedded OS/RTOS/hypervisor), and applications (platform/cloud/service/analytics) across a wide range of verticals, including automotive, smart home, healthcare, and energy.

“There is growing interest and requirement for improved levels of security to be designed into products, devices, and networks to protect data, combat fraud, and prevent criminal hacking,” says Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research. “While there is no one ‘go-to’ company, with so many IoT and security vendors making a stake, the prospects for successfully penetrating the market are high for new players and entrenched leaders alike. Promising opportunities, and undeniably challenges, will center on securing assets, protecting data, and ensuring privacy.”

Market players pioneering the expansion of the IoT cybersecurity vendor ecosystem include Qualcomm, Gemalto, G&D, ARM, Imagination Technologies, Deutsche Telekom, Symantec, Wind River, QNX, Green Hills, Freescale, General Dynamics, Commsignia, Covisint, Cryptosoft, Waterfall Security, Oracle, Intel, Harman (TowerSec), Bastille, Rambus, Escrypt, Inside Secure, and ForgeRock among many others.

Standardization and guideline developments are still in the early stages. Numerous groups, including the Cloud Security Alliance, the Trusted Computing Group, the OWASP IoT Project, the IEE, GSMA, NFC Forum, ISO, GlobalPlatform, and IoT Security Foundation, among others, are working on different aspects of security standards, from hardware designs to network connectivity. “When mapping out these new standards, it is important to keep in mind numerous considerations, such as small footprints, lightweight agents, low energy consumption, mobile assets, and permeable networks,” concludes Menting.

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Cybersecurity Technologies Service, which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.