Trend Micro Incorporated has published "Internet of Things Buyer’s Guide for Smart Parents and Guardians" as part of an informative content package for holiday shoppers. Infographics and an interactive quiz are also available, highlighting product features that threat actors can use for accessing personal information and monetary exploitation.
"Our goal with these resources is to help parents and guardians keep their families safe from online privacy and security risks," said Lynette Owens, founder and global director of Internet Safety for Kids & Families at Trend Micro. "So many things that our children use daily, including toys, games, and apps, are increasingly connected to the internet and collecting a lot of information. Our goal is to raise as much awareness about this among all consumers, but especially parents whose kids may be impacted. We believe a more informed consumer is a safer one.” In 2015, a global provider of electronic learning products was breached
by threat actors. This data breach resulted in the attackers gaining access to more than 6.3 million child-related profiles and 4.8 million parental accounts, which demonstrated the impact attacks of this kind can have on kids and families. Trend Micro has released this buyer's guide and interactive content package to prepare shoppers this holiday season and inform parents and guardians about potential privacy and security vulnerabilities in smart toy features and other internet-connected devices. This information is designed to help empower shoppers to make more informed decisions and potentially avoid falling victim to cybercriminals planning to exploit holiday shopping for their own gain.
The content package includes eight simple tips and considerations before buying gifts this holiday season, such as knowing what data is collected by the device, whether or not it has a camera, and whether or not it can track a person's physical location.
In addition to the graphics, the buyer's guide outlines product features that collect data from users and how to control these to improve the general safety and security of children using the products. The accompanying interactive
quiz allows shoppers to test their knowledge of IoT products before purchasing gifts for children this year.