Security Risks Taint LatAm Professionals' Opinion of Augmented Reality

A large majority of IT professionals in Latin America disagree that the benefits of augmented reality (AR) applications outweigh the security risks they pose, according to a study by business technology and cybersecurity association ISACA.
Insufficient budget is also among the hurdles hindering the adoption of AR in the region.
Although enterprises accept that augmented reality can add significant business value and personal convenience, they say the risk it possess is far greater than the benefit it offers. In the survey, only 27% of IT professionals in Latin America said they were convinced about the benefits of AR.
But ISACA says that the trend may change over the coming years as consumers demand more convenience and more enterprises adopt the technology elsewhere in the world.
The popularity of AR soared following the release of Pokémon Go, a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by American software company Niantic, Inc. Reports say the game has been downloaded more than 500 million times worldwide.
Interestingly, US respondents have expressed positive opinion about AR, with some respondents saying that AR-enhanced training guides have been helpful in their daily lives.
Christos Dimitriadism, chair of ISACA’s Board of Directors, said enterprises can reap the dividends of AR adoption if they apply “sound measures around governance, security, and risk management.”
“Proactive monitoring for malicious activity like virtual graffiti and data breaches is critical for businesses to gain the full value of new technologies while mitigating risk.”
According to the report, 42% of organizations in Latin America have no plans to use AR applications over the next one year, but about 21% of respondents claimed they have used AR outside of work.