SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Canonical, maker of Ubuntu Linux and its Internet of Things variant, has discovered the obvious – that people cannot be trusted to secure their connected devices.
Thibaut Rouffineau, evangelist for Ubuntu Core and the Internet of Things, admitted late last week that developers and IoT device makers know people seldom update the firmware of connected devices. But, he argues, they probably don't realize how bad the security situation has become.
The distro maker says it surveyed 2,000 folks about how they dealt with connected devices. It found that less than a third of respondents (31 per cent) installed updates as soon as they were available. Some 40 per cent never knowingly updated their devices.
"In other words, consumers are leaving their devices open to exploits and hacks, from DDoS attacks to invasions of personal privacy or theft of personal data," said Rouffineau.
Why such disinterest? According to Rouffineau, almost two thirds of respondents felt that keeping software updated – their security – was not their responsibility.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday December 24 2016, @06:51PM
It'll take more than that. To get people to actually let the updates happen, we'll have to actually make corporations pay when they sneak a new limitation in with the update or where they break existing functionality in any way. Feature removal must equal a big fat refund. Not a coupon for a free stick of gum with your next $1000 purchase, an actual full refund. People bought the thing based on the features of the product. If it no longer has them, why shouldn't they have their money back?