DAYTON — A new report says thieves are hijacking millions of American internet connections so they can commit crimes.
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News Center 7’s I-Team Lead Investigator John Bedell explains how this is happening and how people can protect their homes.
Research shows the average American household has 17 internet-connected devices.
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These are things like phones, laptops, smart TVs, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
IoTs include security systems, video doorbells, smart thermostats, and appliances.
The new study shows just how often criminals are hijacking those devices in homes to commit crimes.
“It’s used for credit card fraud, identity theft, you know, to obfuscate your activity, doing all kinds of nefarious activity,” Steve Guris, of risk3sixty Threat Intelligence Lead, said.
Guris is a cybersecurity professional and was one of the lead researchers on the report from the Digital Citizens Alliance.
The DCA report released Thursday found that an estimated 20 million US internet connections are exploited every year by cybercriminals abroad.
“So what the report really gets into is how this happens to your average American, your average citizen in Dayton, where you’ll purchase a device that claims to give you something for free,” Guris said.
He said devices that provide free movies or TV channels for installing a box come with pre-loaded software that scans home networks, looking for other devices to compromise and turn into connections for cybercriminals.
“Anyone with access to these networks can hop in on to hide their traffic. So in essence, it doesn’t look like a cybercriminal is doing something. It looks like somebody in Dayton is doing some sketchy,” Guris said.
“I think it’s really scary, yeah, definitely want to find a way to prevent it,” Amy Kurrek, of Huber Heights, said.
Guris added that it’s not too hard to protect yourself.
“Number one, don’t install or download things that are claiming to give you something for nothing, because in that instance, you are more than likely the product,” Guris said.
And Guris said don’t download free VPNs or anything from a non-reputable developer.
Another good internet safety practice is to keep up with the age of internet devices.
Guris said older devices are more vulnerable, and anything older than five years should be replaced.
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