A new industry report from Parks Associates shows the percentage of broadband households not intending to purchase a smart home device due to security and privacy concerns has increased from 21 percent in Q1 2017 to 32 percent in Q1 2018. The report, named “Blockchain for Connected Home and Entertainment,” analyzes security concerns, their impact on smart home adoption, and the potential for blockchain to decrease IoT vulnerability and allay consumer concerns associated with these devices.
“Blockchain is most widely known for acting as a public ledger for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum, but use cases extend far beyond digital currency,” says Chris O’Dell, research associate, Parks Associates. “The technology promises to help IoT providers create a more secure and efficient network for consumers in industry verticals such as smart home, digital media, connected health, and energy, among others.”
“Blockchain for Connected Home and Entertainment” reveals more than one-fourth of U.S. broadband households strongly agree that it’s impossible to keep their personal data away from unauthorized users. The report shows how the increasing number of connected devices in consumers’ lives, which currently use centralized cloud-based servers, can provide easy targets for hackers. By implementing blockchain solutions, companies can do away with this central authority in IoT networks to significantly reduce the risk of IoT devices being compromised by a single point of security failure.
“Consumers now own an average of 8.6 connected CE products in their home, an 87 percent growth in the average volume of devices since 2010,” O’Dell says. “A hacker trying to gain unauthorized access to IoT devices on a blockchain-powered network would have to break into a majority of the network’s nodes to gain controllable access to the system, essentially needing an entire army of hackers.”
“Blockchain for Connected Home and Entertainment” defines blockchain as it relates to the connected consumer and explores its viability and applications within the connected consumer ecosystem. It explores blockchain applications for specific IoT verticals, including smart home, digital media, connected health, and energy. The report examines blockchain’s potential impact on consumer confidence in IoT products and services, and it also profiles companies investing in blockchain technologies and developing innovative blockchain solutions.
Additional research:
- More than 60 percent of data-sensitive households do not trust companies that have their data to keep it safe.
- 80 percent of data-sensitive households do not believe they receive much in return for sharing their data.
For more information about “Blockchain for Connected Home and Entertainment,” contact [email protected].
