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“Although the Internet of Things presents an array of opportunities for both consumers and businesses, it also exposes more chances for hackers to attack, which could have severe repercussions from a financial and reputational perspective. That’s why it’s incredibly positive to see the Government put in place new measures to boost cyber security in millions of internet-connected devices.

“Often security risks are down to cost, as devices capable of connecting to the internet are usually cheap to develop and even cheaper to sell at scale. In recent years we’ve seen how cheap drones, and home automation devices like ‘smart light bulbs’ not undergo the rigorous development cycles usually expected with best practice.

“In fact security is often an afterthought. The adage of home insurance and a house alarm provides a good analogy in the sense they are good protective measures against incidents, and not something worth leaving out because of the cost. The risk of not owning a house alarm is not worth considering when the alarm is protecting everything you own. The same can be said for IoT devices: good coding practises, non-hardcoded passwords and regular firmware or device upgrades can help encourage a more open approach to security, instead of cutting costs to create better sales margins at the cost of the consumers’ security.

“With our latest report revealing a fifth of the UK public believe cybercrime and hacking are the biggest challenges facing the UK today, every single manufacturer has an obligation to make data protection as much of a priority as the public. After all, cybercrime is not a probability, it is an inevitability and it will be the way in which businesses prepare for it, that can make all the difference.”