Security News > 2020 > October > IoT Device Takeovers Surge 100 Percent in 2020
IoT devices are now responsible for 32.72 percent of all infections observed in mobile and Wi-Fi networks - up from 16.17 percent in 2019.
Researchers with Nokia's Threat Intelligence Lab said, in the Threat Intelligence Report 2020 released this week, that they believe that number of IoT infections will continue to grow "Dramatically" as connected devices continue to populate in homes and enterprise settings alike.
Researchers pointed to the visibility of devices connected to the internet as a barometer for IoT infection rates, with high IoT infection rates occurring when devices are connected to publicly facing internet IP addresses.
IoT devices have long been under scrutiny for their lack of security measures, with researchers finding in March that more than half of all IoT devices are vulnerable to medium- or high-severity attacks, for instance.
The growth in IoT is far from over: The introduction of 5G is also expected to continue to increase not just the number of IoT devices, but the share of connected devices accessible directly from the internet.