5 Reasons You May Not Be Safe In 2019- Infographics

Our growing dependency on the internet enabled smart devices could mean trouble in the year ahead.

The advent of the internet has had a huge impact on the world around us. Almost all our communications, entertainment systems, social and home lives are increasingly dependant on the use of technology especially our beloved internet. However, is our love of the information superhighway putting us all in danger this year?

Whether we are using our mobile phones, watching our smart televisions or simply in our vehicles out and about, we can be subjected to unwanted intrusion by third parties. Trojan horse viruses have the ability to infiltrate our smartphones enabling the controller to spy on and track your every movement – 24/7. In 2018 smart television application, Samba TV, claimed ‘’to gather second-by-second information on what people are watching from software it’s installed on some 13.5 million smart television’s in the US’’. Furthermore, smart device manufacturer Vizio paid $2.2 million to the Federal Trade Commission for selling users data to third parties without their consent. In a recent consumer survey, it was revealed that 27% of 18-34-year-olds had serious concerns relating to data privacy when using smart home appliances. The same survey found that 37% of those who were 35 years and older were concerned with the potential of being a victim of hacking or a cyber attack.

It is not all bad news, however. There are ways we can protect ourselves from being hacked and potentially spied on when using our smart devices this year. Disabling webcam and microphones, turning off location sharing and never downloading suspicious applications onto any of our devices are just some of the precautions we can all take, both at the office and at home. If we all think smartly, act sensibly and implement just a couple of these steps, we will be able to enjoy our smart devices this year relatively risk-free.