Consumer devices vulnerable
There are now more than 3 billion connected devices in use by consumers, according to Gartner, and this number will increase to 4 billion next year.
A big chunk of that increase will come as a result of the holiday season, when 65 percent of Americans say they plan to buy consumer electronics gifts, according to an October report by the Consumer Electronics Association. The amount of spending on tech will reach $34.2 billion, making the the biggest tech shopping season on record, according to Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research.
Many of these gifts are likely to be connected devices, including smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, notebooks and laptops, and video game consoles. In addition, a third of all consumers — 33 percent — plan to buy an emerging technology product this year such as as smart home devices, wearable fitness trackers, smart watches, and drones.
Unfortunately, many of these devices will make homes more vulnerable to hackers.
Tablets
As with a smartphone, the security of a tablet depends mostly on its operating system.
Although iOS devices have occasionally been compromised, 97 percent of all malware targets Androids, according to a mobile threat security report from Pulse Secure.
The iOS ecosystem offers a couple of major security advantages over Android, including tighter control of the apps allowed in the app store, and Apple’s ability to quickly push out security-related upgrades to all users. Android security updates, however, typically have to go through individual manufacturers, which can involve significant delays.
But tablets also have an additional level of risk.
“Tablets are used much in the way laptops are used and often contain work related documentation with sensitive information,” said Bruce Snell, director of security and privacy at Intel Security. “But unlike laptops, tablets aren’t treated with the same level of security, especially in a BYOD environment.”