40.8% Smart Homes vulnerable to attacks

Security researchers have found nearly 40.8% of smart homes have at least one device that could be easily breached by hackers as one-third of them have outdated software with unpatched security issues, while two-thirds of them are exposed due to their weak credentials.

The team of researchers at Avast said that all these vulnerable devices are connected to the internet directly, and routers are the ones most targeted.

"59.7% of routers have weak credentials or some vulnerabilities" and "59.1% of users worldwide have never logged into their router or have never updated its firmware," says Avast.

In their report, Avast says that "a router that is vulnerable to attack poses a risk for the whole home, much like leaving your front door unlocked. Cybercriminals can redirect compromised routers to access exactly what they want, including phones, computers or any other connected device."

Printers lead the list of types of devices which are most vulnerable to attacks. In the US,  the printer's vulnerability percentage is 43.8%, while other devices like NAS devices and security cameras are on the second and third place with 17.7% and 14.7% respectively.

"It only takes one weak device to let in a bad hacker and once they are on the network, they can access other devices, and the personal data they stream or store, including live videos and voice recordings," said Avast President Ondrej Vlcek. "Simple security steps like setting strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication for all device access, and ensuring software patches and firmware updates are applied when available, will significantly improve digital home integrity."

The Avast's 2019  Smart Home Security Report includes data from 16 million different home from all over the world, the total of 56 million devices having been scanned to gather the data.  

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