AT&T, which said it recorded a 3,198 per cent increase in attackers scanning for vulnerabilities in Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the past three years, joined hands with firms including IBM and Nokia to tackle IoT security challenges.

Palo Alto Networks, Symantec and Trustonic round up the companies which are part of the IoT Cybersecurity Alliance, which aims to “demystify IoT Security” and share best practices.

AT&T surveyed companies in 2016 and found 58 per cent were not confident in the security of their IoT devices. The operator realised “helping these organisations stay protected requires innovation across the whole IoT ecosystem to enable sustainable growth.”

Alliance members believe the key lies in protecting devices at the endpoint, network, cloud and application layers, and using overarching threat analytics to study the ecosystem and design products with a built-in, always-on security approach.

The members want to advise customers and educate the industry on measures needed to create a safer IoT ecosystem, foster collaboration and advance innovation.

The alliance will engage regularly with policymakers and help the industry maximise the advantages of IoT.

AT&T’s chief security officer Bill O’Hern believes that be it a connected car, pacemaker or coffee maker, every connected device is a potential new entry point for cyberattacks and requires different security considerations, making it essential for industry leaders to come up with holistic security approaches.