Why Security Must be Center Stage at CES 2016 this Year

It’s that time of the year again – when the great and good of the consumer technology world descend on Las Vegas for a glimpse of the future. Yes, it’s time to shake off that holidays and get down to CES 2016: the world’s largest electronics trade show. With 170,000 attendees and more than 3,500 exhibitors expected this year, there’ll be plenty to offer to wow the crowds. But once again the biggest interest will be reserved for the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things technologies.

But before we get carried away by the latest hi-tech wizardry to come out of the show, let’s remember one thing: from smartphones to connected cars, new technology brings with it new privacy and security risks. To get the most out of these gadgets while protecting our private and corporate data, we as an industry need to do better to anticipate and head-off these challenges.

Drawing the crowds

The Consumer Electronics Show has been going for nearly half a century now and has always been the place to go to see what the world’s brightest and best technology makers are working on to make us happier, healthier and more productive. This year will be no different, according to the latest buzz from the show ahead of its official opening on Wednesday. Samsung is expected to reveal more details about its much anticipated Galaxy S7 flagship device along with plenty of additional news for fans of HTC, Sony, LG and other big name brands.

Automobile manufacturers will continue to maintain a major presence at the show, as cars come ever closer to resembling giant mobile computers – loaded with on-board entertainment systems, self-driving technology and much more. Expect the usual suspects including Tesla, Toyota and Ford, alongside the launch of a highly secretive electric car start-up: Faraday Future.

And what about wearables? Fitbit will likely be leading the way as manufacturers in the space look to add new services and functionality to tempt new customers to their respective platforms. There’ll even be the launch of the OMBra – being touted as the world’s first smart bra.

Securing the future

In the smartphone space security concerns have long been an issue for the Android platform, and 2015 showed us that the bad guys are also prepared to go after iOS users in a big way. We’re anticipating the number of malicious apps worldwide to hit the 20 million mark by the end of this year, driven by activity in China. It’s why we’ll continue to plough resources into forward-looking research to anticipate where the major threats might appear next.

With wearables, connected cars and other IoT systems, the dangers are potentially even more pronounced:

As firms collect ever more data from their customers, and devices gain additional functionality like syncing with mobile and corporate devices, there is a real risk not only to personal privacy but also corporate data security As our homes become filled with smart devices and appliances, consumers will begin to struggle with the sheer volume and complexity of managing such systems. It’s a problem compounded by the fact many vendors don’t release timely patches for IoT products, if at all There’s also a real risk of IoT flaws causing physical harm – as demonstrated in Black Hat research last year which saw how connected cars could be hacked remotely and the steering and brakes controlled. Trend Micro has pioneered security research in this field but there’s still a long way to go. That’s why we’re predicting that at least one consumer grade smart device failure this year will be lethal

At Trend Micro we’re looking forward to all the latest exciting new innovations announced at CES this year. But we’re also hoping the show will build on its recognition last year of security as a key component of that innovation. Because only by working with the community and building protections in at the design stage can vendors hope to release safe, robust and secure products that can genuinely disrupt and delight.

Enjoy the show!

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