Bitdefender and NETGEAR 2026 IoT Report Reveals Growing Threat Exposure Throughout the Connected Home
Key Highlights
- ➤5.4 billion security events analyzed across roughly 10.4 million smart homes globally
- ➤Average connected devices per household rose to 24 from 22 last year
- ➤Smart TVs led vulnerability observations with 270.3 million
- ➤Smart TVs, plugs, and network-attached storage comprised 67.1% of observations
- ➤Reconnaissance accounted for 90.1% of detected attack activity
Expert Statements
Ciprian Istrate, Senior vice president of operations, Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group
“The increase in connected devices has turned homes into complex digital ecosystems, and every addition gives attackers another doorway in.”
Ciprian Istrate, Senior vice president of operations, Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group
“Cybercriminals are using AI to speed attacks on newly discovered vulnerabilities from days to a matter of hours, putting families at far greater risk.”
Ciprian Istrate, Senior vice president of operations, Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group
“Our research with NETGEAR shows that router-level protection is now critical for defending against malware, identity theft, and increasingly sophisticated scams.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“A connected home depends on more than speed, coverage, and reliability.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“It also depends on the visibility and protection that services such as NETGEAR Armor™ powered by Bitdefender® bring to activity across the network, plus security at the router level.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“As enterprises get better at protecting their digital infrastructure, cybercriminals are turning to connected home devices.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“These devices are increasingly smart and powerful, which makes them an ideal foothold: always on, reliable, and rarely monitored.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“Once inside, criminals can stay hidden and move laterally across the home network.”
Chandan Nandakumaraiah, Head of product and cybersecurity at NETGEAR and member of the CVE Board
“Monitoring, detecting, and blocking these threats is more important than ever.”
Bitdefender and NETGEAR 2026 IoT Report Reveals Growing Threat Exposure Throughout the Connected Home
Global Analysis of 5.4 Billion Security Events Finds Homes Now Average 24 Connected Devices That Can Serve as Targets, Proxies, Sensors, and Footholds
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