Exposure of sensitive data, damage to reputation, consequences of non-compliance, and endangerment of individual’s safety represent some of the biggest cybersecurity challenges that organizations face. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) is dedicated to enhancing the trustworthiness of ICT products and services in the EU by achieving a unified and resilient cybersecurity infrastructure and processes.
To accomplish this, the agency has conducted extensive research and analysis on the supply and demand of the cybersecurity market to identify trends. The research aimed to answer questions related to market power, competition, expansion potential, and areas of improvement. Here are ten things you should know about the IoT cybersecurity market in the EU.
- The top technical concerns and adoption barriers impacting IoT decision-makers include security, data and information management, analytics, technology immaturity, IoT technology integration, privacy concerns, and IoT installation complexity.
- Electric vehicle (EV) sales in the EU are on the rise thanks to automobile manufacturers rolling out more moderately-priced EVs and EV batteries. However, the availability of EV charging stations still makes EV ownership a challenge for most member states because the majority of charging points are concentrated in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a boost in the adoption of digital technologies. And the increase in usage has had an impact on the electric grids. However, the effect demands dedicated research and analysis.
- The construction sector for grid digitalization is experiencing a workforce shortage due to a decreasing working-age population and perceived unattractiveness of the occupation.
- The current legal framework, planned legislation, and privacy policy initiatives play crucial roles in forming a relevant legal framework for IoT cybersecurity in distribution grids.
- Global warming and changing climate conditions have led to rising temperatures across the EU, influencing the power supply. Increased demands in heating and cooling has impacted the estimated electricity consumption, which have resulted in a growing IoT cybersecurity of “smart” transformers and meters. An analysis of the supply and demand of IoT technologies reveals that IoT cybersecurity spending is primarily driven by the increasing adoption of electricity “smart” meters.
- The increasing demand for “smart” meters is expected to result in higher spending on maintaining IoT cybersecurity and less focus on dedicating capital to purchasing new software or hardware.
- On the supply side, embedding cybersecurity into IoT infrastructure represents one of the trends. Meanwhile, on the demand side, improving IoT cybersecurity capabilities with better tools and services to meet increasing demands by the energy sector is the trend.
- Cyber-physical system security and operational technology security are some technological trends in the IoT cybersecurity market.
What is clear at this stage is that the market prefers larger IoT vendors that possess more cybersecurity capabilities over smaller organizations as they are limited in their ability to cover a wider spectrum of security requirements. Hopefully, with the upcoming cybersecurity standards, frameworks and regulations that are to be enforced in the EU, SMEs will be able to enhance their level of maturity and provide the required level of trust to encrease their chances in accessing the EU market.