More Than 50% Of Companies Use AI And IOT In Their Processes

A recent study has revealed that more than 50 percent of companies have implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IOT) in their businesses’ infrastructure.

Additionally, the study by Kaspersky revealed that 33 percent of the companies surveyed are planning to adopt these interconnected technologies within two years. In the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region, 55 percent of respondents have implemented AI and 34 percent are planning to do so, while IoT are used in 44 percent of organisations with 45 percent planning to use them.

Interconnected technologies are the growing network of devices, systems and applications connected to the Internet and each other. They transform enterprises, enabling them to gather more data and automate processes. But they also bring new risks and challenges when securing business assets and safeguarding customers.

Dubbed ‘Connecting the future of business’, the Kaspersky study aims to help companies stay ahead of the changes interconnected technologies bring, posing critical questions regarding the way cybersecurity must adapt to them. The company surveyed 560 senior IT security leaders from North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa, Russia and Asia-Pacific.

The research found that AI and IoT are already used by 54 percent and 51 percent of companies respectively (55 percent and 44 percent in the META region). One in three plans to adopt them within two years (in META 34 percent plan to use AI and 45 percent IoT). Data spaces are used by 32 percent of businesses, with nearly half (49 percent) intending to adopt them in the near future (the figures are 34 percent and 45 percent in META).

Other interconnected technologies (digital twins, AR, VR, web 3.0, 6G and converged cloud networks), are used by only one in five (20-21 percent) companies participating in the survey, but more than 70 percent are considering integrating them into their business processes soon. The figures are similar in the META region, with just 6G and converged cloud networks being a bit different – 18 percent of respondents already use them, 80 percent have them in plan.

Because AI and IoT have become so widespread, they are vulnerable to new vectors of cyberattacks. According to the research, 16-17 percent of organisations think AI and IoT are ‘very difficult’ or ‘extremely difficult’ to protect (18 percent and 16 percent in META), while only 8 percent of the AI users and 12 percent of the IoT owners believe their companies are fully protected (9 percent and 14 percent in META).

However, what’s clear from the study is that the less widespread the implementation of technologies, the more difficult it is for companies to protect them and vice versa. For instance, the least adopted AR/VR and converged cloud networks, are the most challenging technologies to protect in terms of cyber defense, with 39-40 percent of companies saying they are difficult to secure (37-38 percent in META).

“Interconnected technologies bring immense business opportunities but they also usher in a new era of vulnerability to serious cyberthreats. With an increasing amount of data being collected and transmitted, cybersecurity measures must be strengthened. Enterprises must protect critical assets, build customer confidence amid the expanding interconnected landscape, and ensure there are adequate resources allocated to cybersecurity so they can use the new solutions to combat the incoming challenges of interconnected tech. Businesses integrating AI and IoT into their infrastructure need to protect it with Container Security and Extended Detection and Response solutions, to detect cyberthreats at early stages and provide effective defense,” comments Ivan Vassunov, VP, Corporate products, Kaspersky.