SINGAPORE, July 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internet Society wants to know your thoughts on insecure smart devices, on the lack of safeguards to your privacy and security, and, consumers thinking that cheaper is better. Take the Internet Society's short survey here: http://bit.ly/ISOCIoTSecurity and let your voice be heard. Participants of this survey also stand a chance to win a tablet device of your choice!
Internet Society, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet has been conducting an annual study for the past five years on the attitudes of Internet stakeholders in Asia-Pacific towards topical Internet policy concerns.
This year's survey wants to shed light on the increased uptake of insecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices amongst consumers.
According to one estimate, IoT is projected to grow to 38.5 billion connected devices in 2020, up from 13.4 billion in 2015. This provides tremendous opportunities for a connected future - from tracking our fitness levels and sleeping patterns, to scheduling lights and setting thermostats for better power efficiency.
However, many of today's IoT devices are rushed to market with little consideration for basic security and privacy protections. If left unsecured, these devices can be manipulated to form networks of connected, externally controlled devices (botnets), which can be used to attack infrastructure, online businesses -- including consumers like you and I.
In 2016, the 'Mirai Botnet' took advantage of unsecure IoT devices to amass an unprecedented flood of network-clogging traffic against targeted websites. The incident, deemed the largest attack of its kind in history, brought down sites including Twitter, the Guardian, Netflix, Reddit, CNN in Europe and US.
In 2017, CloudPet users had their information breached, exposing a database of 2.2 million files, including voice recordings between parents and their children, to strangers online. This was made possible due to poor internet security in their products.
Our safety, privacy and security as consumers are at risk. Unknowingly, we can be spied on via insecure webcams, have our data comprised, or have our smart devices hacked. Moreover, our actions or lack thereof can have a significant impact on other Internet users and services, and on the Internet itself. Let's make sure we build a smart and secure future, starting now.
