A report by Bitdefender and network equipment manufacturer Netgear shows that IoT devices are some of the most vulnerable IT equipment to hacker attacks because of weak security measures. Among them, TVs, outlets and routers expose users to the greatest security risks. Why are they not as safe as we expected?

Cybercriminals use scanners and automation to detect vulnerable devices and launch attacks. A common mistake among users is that they are not important enough to target.

Some conclusions

European homes have an average of 25 internet-connected devices, compared to 46 in the US.

Home networks experience about eight device attacks per day.

Smart TVs are among the most vulnerable devices, although they are not the most popular devices in use (5.4%). More than half of the IoT vulnerabilities detected by Bitdefender specialists relate to smart TVs.

In 2022, consumers began to increasingly use smart sockets to monitor electricity consumption amid rising energy prices.

Most of the attacks identified in 2022 rely on common, already known vulnerabilities that are included in automated attack suites. While these vulnerabilities are known to both device manufacturers and attackers, it can take a long time for vendors to assess, patch, and provide solutions for devices already in smart homes, which can provide cybercriminals with a generous window of opportunity

Denial of service attacks that disrupt the proper functioning of IoT devices remain the primary mechanism affecting IoT devices, accounting for more than 84% of all reported incidents in 2022, followed by attacks targeting sensitive data (11%) .

Recommendations to users

Bitdefender IT security experts urge both home users and employees to be aware of active smart devices on their networks and keep them updated with the latest version of the operating system. If some devices are no longer able to receive updates, they should be replaced with newer models.

• Move all smart devices to a dedicated network to separate them from the main network.

• Update your devices as soon as a new version is available.

• Use routers with built-in security.

• Scan your home network for vulnerable devices with a smart scanner.

• Avoid connecting LAN devices to the Internet unnecessarily.

This report by Bitdefender and Netgear is based on data collected from 2.6 million smart homes worldwide protected by Bitdefender-powered Netgear Armor from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

Bitdefender experts analyzed 120 million IoT devices that generated 3.6 billion security events to identify the vulnerabilities used, frequency and types of attacks.

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