"Study: 7 in 10 concerned about security of Internet-of-Things" (after all this adverse publicity...)

The Internet-of-Things is a thing. If you haven’t heard about it yet, get ready because we’re in the early stages of an explosion of technology that will connect, monitor, and in some cases share almost every aspect of our lives. Fortinet conducted a survey of consumers to find out what people think about the security and privacy concerns of the Internet-of-Things.

The survey, titled “Internet of Things: Connected Home,” was produced in partnership with GMI, a division of Lightspeed Research. More than 1,800 consumers between the ages of 20 and 50 who claim to be tech savvy participated in the survey, which was administered in 11 countries around the world, including the United States, Australia, China, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom.

The majority of those surveyed believe that a connected home—a home in which household appliances and home electronics are seamlessly connected to the Internet—is “extremely likely” to be a reality in the next five years. The actual number was 61 percent in the United States, and an overwhelming 84 percent in China.

Four out of 10 people indicated they’d be willing to pay more for a home that was optimized to take advantage of IoT technologies (nearly half if you include the “maybe” group). Half of those surveyed also said they’d be willing to pay more for better Internet service capable of smoothly handling an
IoT connected home environment. Fewer than 20 percent of respondents from the United States stated they would absolutely not pay more for Internet service to accommodate IoT.


by Tony Bradley
read full article at PcWorld