The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a pillar of products and services across various industries. Critical applications in healthcare, energy, and other fields rely on IoT devices. However, as this dependency deepens, the impact of IoT disruptions could become the biggest business risk in the next decade. When reputation, operational efficiency, and compliance are threatened, IoT devices, networks, and systems must be resilient, as maximizing uptime is often the key to success.
Calculating the Cost of IoT Disruptions
The costs of disruptions are significant. A report indicates that 90% of companies lose over $300,000 per hour due to computing or network outages. Siemens states that automotive manufacturers lose $2.3 million for every hour of downtime. Cyberattacks on IoT networks are common causes of disruptions, and when they affect manufacturing, the most frequent consequence is operational standstill.
Disruptions in manufacturing can lead to severe supply chain issues; in healthcare, disruptions can take critical applications like heart rate monitors and blood glucose sensors offline, jeopardizing patient health and interrupting care services. Every second counts— even a brief interruption can damage a company’s reputation, disrupt operational processes, and affect compliance.
Given the significant impact, companies place great importance on the performance and reliability of their IoT connectivity partners. In a 2024 Kaleido Intelligence survey, nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents ranked this factor as their top consideration, far exceeding any other option.
The Evolving Regulatory Landscape for IoT
Regulatory bodies have recognized that IoT is now widely used in national infrastructure and critical areas. They are working to strengthen relevant standards, compelling device designers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), solution providers, and enterprises to rethink how to ensure the availability of IoT networks and devices.
Governments worldwide are enforcing measures to enhance the resilience of IT systems and IoT. The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act, China’s Cybersecurity Law, and the US and UK Telecommunications Security Acts are manifestations of this trend.
Standard organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have provided best practice frameworks for supply chain management, risk management, application and device security, and incident response.
While these regulations and standards offer multi-layered compliance pathways, the situation is rapidly changing. Device designers, engineers, and solution architects must keep pace. For future-oriented designs, it is best to stay ahead— as the influence of IoT expands, regulation will only become stricter.
That said, these interconnected frameworks and regulations also provide valuable reference points, serving as a set of “best practice” guidelines. In terms of security, several directions to consider include:
-
Security Management (ISO/IEC 27001; EU NIS2 Directive; NIST CSF) — a general framework for overall network security management in organizations.
-
Application Security (ISO/IEC 27034; NIST 800-53) — standards and methods for protecting software and application security.
-
Device Security (ISO/IEC 27002; EU CRA and UK PSTI; ETSI EN 303645 and EN 18031; NIST CSF) — focusing on security requirements for hardware, IoT, and embedded systems.
Among these, the newly released EN 18031 is particularly important for companies selling or supplying IoT devices in the EU. This standard, effective from August 1, applies to all connected radio equipment and is a cybersecurity addendum required for the EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED) to obtain the CE mark.
How to Minimize IoT Disruptions
Minimizing IoT disruptions is no small feat, as solutions involve multiple dimensions: devices, networks, software, applications, operational processes, and the inevitable cloud environment. Any failure in one link can put the entire system at risk.
Unfortunately, factors such as network failures, cyberattacks, and harsh environments continue to test the resilience of IoT—these risks can damage physical devices or weaken signal strength. In light of this reality, the only viable approach is to build resilience and reliability comprehensively across devices, networks, cloud services, and processes.
Many devices focus more on functionality during design, neglecting resilience, which exposes them to numerous potential threats. Therefore, connectivity and security must be built into the system from the outset.
How to Design a Reliable and Secure IoT
A reliable and secure IoT must be planned from the design phase. Consider asking yourself:
-
Is redundancy built into the network and systems? Can the solution automatically scale based on demand fluctuations? Does it have automatic failover capabilities?
-
Does security cover all aspects? Are measures comprehensive? Do they include identity and access management, multi-factor authentication, data encryption, endpoint protection, and patch management?
-
How is service performance optimized? Have edge computing, content delivery networks, and rate limiting been considered? Is capacity planning conducted regularly?
-
Is real-time monitoring applied to infrastructure, applications, and devices? Is predictive analytics utilized?
-
What is the level of automation in configuration? Are software updates completed automatically? Does the system have self-healing capabilities?
-
Is there a disaster recovery plan in place?
-
Is the change control process clear? How is the version of configurations managed? Are audits conducted per regulatory requirements?
This checklist is not exhaustive. IoT solutions are often complex, involving multiple components, and are typically distributed across different geographical locations. Therefore, designers, engineers, solution architects, and enterprises should collaborate early with IoT solution providers to explore how to maximize system uptime and ensure all critical aspects are covered.
Keeping IoT Online
The IoT has deeply integrated into the operations of organizations across industries and continents. Therefore, its stability must be prioritized to ensure it remains online and operates reliably, continuously providing services to customers. In an environment of changing regulations and risks, uptime, resilience, and scalability must be core considerations from day one when designing IoT systems.
While risks cannot be entirely eliminated, various proactive measures can be taken to minimize the likelihood of disruptions, ensuring systems remain operational and quickly recover in the event of an incident.
When IoT goes offline, it can cause significant losses for businesses and their customers. We must do everything possible to ensure that devices, networks, and systems are resilient enough to keep the IoT online.
THE END
Purchasing 150,000 Cambrian GPUs? Alibaba Cloud Responds
2025-09-01
Domestic CPU + Operating System, 9 Seconds Boot Time Refresh Record
2025-08-30
Stock Price Soars Over 200% in a Month, Domestic Memory Manufacturer Suspended for Investigation
2025-08-29
Shenzhen High-Precision PCB Factory Bankrupt Liquidation, Only 88 Yuan Left in Account
2025-08-29
Suspension Starting Tomorrow! Chip Origin Plans to Acquire Chip Coming
2025-08-28
