2. A Major Security Breach Of Industrial SCADA System Will Bring New Focus To IoT

FreeWave predicts that there will be a major security break of an industrial supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system in 2016. This breach will cause industrial companies to focus more on methods of securing the Internet of Things and more secure communcations systems.

According to Glenn Longley, Regional Manager of Energy Markets at FreeWave, usually information technology and operations technology departments are separate. However, a security breach will force the two departments to come together to prioritize security.

"Each company is different in how it handles the influx of IoT and the resulting IT/ OT convergence. With the merging/blending of Information Technology and Operations Technology, the firewall that separates the two becomes more complicated and less well-defined," said Longley in a statement.

Partner Takeaway: Partners working with customers in the industrial vertical should be prepared to answer tough questions about security as it pertains to the Industrial Internet of Things.