You Are Not Safe At Home

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Last week, I showed you why the smart car was the most impressive consumer trend in the spotlight at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES).

But the car of the future was just one of hundreds of devices showcased at this year’s event.

Smart cars, after all, are just part of a much bigger trend Ray Blanco and I saw on the showroom floor: Converting everyday items into interactive smart devices.

As we walked the floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center, people were controlling everything from refrigerators, lightbulbs, ovens, and even locks on doors with the push of a button or a voice command.

That might seem like a great leap forward for the tech world. But hold on… here’s the catch:

The “system” in place to protect these devices from hackers is more unstable than ever.

In September of last year, some of the largest websites on the internet were shut down by a cybersecurity breach that allowed hackers to take control of household smart devices.

I’m talking about some of the same devices on full display at CES – like interactive smart home devices you see on TV. Sure, these devices can play music and tell you the weather.

But they’re also constantly on standby and connected to the internet with very little protection. The poor cybersecurity measures built into these products enable even an unsophisticated cybercriminal to hijack the devices with ease.

Attacks on these types of devices so far have been amateur, at best. Shutting down your Twitter account or hacking your refrigerator is hardly life altering.

But larger and far more destructive attacks are on the horizon for 2017.

Cybercriminals get more sophisticated everyday while the door to the increasingly wider web of internet-connected devices stays wide open.

This creates an enormous vulnerability — and a massive opportunity for the companies that are able to provide reliable firewalls to protect the thousands of smart devices of the future.

That’s why, instead of Ray and I spending our time talking to refrigerators and ovens, we focused on finding the companies that could lead the way in tackling what is shaping up to be the biggest cybersecurity threat of the 21st century.

This is going to be a huge investing story in the year ahead.

Every tech investor is going to need a cybersecurity play in their portfolio. In the days ahead, we’ll share with you the best security plays we found. This is a don’t miss story that’s only going to get bigger and bigger.

Regards,

Jose Vilchez-Azcona
for The Daily Reckoning

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