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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 LoRdTAW on Thursday December 22 2016, @06:59PM
Hey! How are they going to monetize your washing/eating/hvac/etc habits? The nerve of some people. I mean, without knowing how often you wash your clothes or how dirty they are, how else would they target you for Tide and Clorox ads? Or the fact that you enjoy dairy maybe you should invest more in buying dannon yogurt? Or your dishwasher would perform better with new and improved cascade or some shit? For fucks sake, they NEED a perpetual revenue stream even after they sold you the damn thing.