Small Business and IoT Safety in the Context of Current Global Events

The giant leap in connected device adoption among citizens, institutions, and businesses due to COVID-19 response us indeed unprecedented. As informed by McKinsey, “The levels of working remotely have skyrocketed during lockdowns and are likely to remain higher than pre-crisis levels for some time.” Yet, as was stated clearly earlier in ISCC’s Mitigating IoT Cybersecurity Threat Project, “if it is connected, it is vulnerable.” And as those who have been to their local electronic retail store lately, empty shelves demonstrate the demand for connected devices of all sorts.

With 98 percent of Canadian businesses identified as small and the reality of what business owner must prioritize on a day-to-day basis, cybersecurity falls through the cracks. Businesses that are often essential in food, education, health, communication, and energy sectors.

This online forum will be grounded in the entrepreneurial spirit and vision of CaSA energy and their journey in utilizing approved standards to protect their customers.

We will also hear from Barbara Cuthill of the U.S. National Institute on Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity for IoT program, Ryerson, the Standards Council of Canada, CyberSecure Canada, and leading academics working to provide evidence-based research on small business cybersecurity adoption.