Securing field devices and edge infrastructure as IoT adoption accelerates

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

IoT deployments continue their rapid expansion across industrial sectors, with connected device populations reaching 19.8 billion in 2025 and projected to exceed 40 billion by 2034. This ubiquity drives efficiency gains and operational transformation, yet exposes organizations to escalating cyber risks. Recent enterprise surveys indicate 75% of organizations experienced IoT-related security breaches in the past year, up from 50% one year prior, while IoT malware campaigns doubled in the first half of 2024, with compromised devices averaging 52+ hours under sustained attack.

The threat landscape has fundamentally shifted. Adversaries now target edge devices and operational technology as soft entry points, recognizing that IoT and OT convergence creates attack vectors extending beyond data theft to kinetic impacts—halted factories, disabled power grids, and compromised safety systems. Ransomware incidents targeting OT environments jumped 46% in Q1 2025, with threat actors deliberately seeking to disrupt physical operations for maximum leverage. Security incidents now carry potentially uncapped financial and safety consequences as cyber-physical boundaries dissolve.

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