Partnership to defend against cyber threats targeting smart homes – Technologist

The smart home market continues to gain momentum with Statista forecasting a global market value of US$35,756 million in 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 15.9% and nearly doubling to US$64,452 million by 2024.

Statista noted that penetration is at a low 8.0% in 2020, hitting 18.8% by 2024, with the US accounting for 77.3% of the global market in 2020.

A common fixture in upcoming smart home deployments is a home security system – a set of integrated systems connecting the home Wi-Fi network to the internet allowing the homeowner to monitor and control security devices using a smartphone and an app.

It is this connection to the internet that presents both an opportunity as well as threat. Consider that a typical entry-level smart home would include door and window sensors, surveillance camera with motion detector, and a hub that communicates with these devices using one or more wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi, Z-Wave, ZigBee, or a proprietary mesh network.

MarketWatch says the Asia-Pacific home security systems market will grow at a CAGR of 13.36% during the forecast period of 2018-2025. It attributes this growth to the fast-growing adoption of all types of home security and safety systems across the region.

SAM Seamless Network is partnering with BitDefender to target ISPs to offer complete enterprise-grade security on all devices both in and out of the home, against all attacks such as phishing, and malware, and across all smart devices connected to the network.

One of the first use cases of this partnership with Telenet, a European ISP offering IoT security to its customers. The solution combines SAM’s network, IoT, device security fingerprinting and PC security protection together with BitDefender’s end-point protection.

“We have seen a rapid increase in attacks on home devices this last year and with 5G on the near horizon, we expect them to rise even more in 2020,” said Sivan Rauscher, CEO and co-founder of SAM Seamless Network.

She noted that the introduction of IoTs to the home network potentially introduces a new revenue stream for ISPs. “For example, selling smart IoT devices direct to consumers, offering services such as IoT security and privacy and branching more into physical security with suites of security services grouped together,” she opined.

Rauscher noted that the opportunity can go further spilling into smart cars, as well as the use of smart wearable devices.

Liberty Global, which own brands like Virgin Media, Telenet and UPC, plans to integrate SAM’s solution in its routers to secure every connection point even outside the home. The service will be available to all Liberty Global’s customers by 2021.

Market research firm Parks Associates 71% of US broadband households that own smart devices are concerned about cybersecurity. It further estimates that 25% of those who do not own smart home devices are also concerned about privacy and security, which prevents them from buying smart devices.

“As households adopt more smart home devices, owners rely more and more on a router/gateway with strong security software to prevent unauthorized access and protect their privacy. One-third of households with 1-4 smart home devices have adopted this method, increasing to 50% of households once they adopt 10 or more devices,” said Lindsay Gafford, Research Analyst, Parks Associates.