As we navigate the holidays and spend more time indoors, there is an understandable increase in time spent on our devices. With more time on screens and holiday house guests joining home networks, there is a higher risk that our devices are susceptible to security attacks.
October was National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) in the United States, so we took a close look at the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape in US homes. Plume’s HomePass and WorkPass service monitors traffic across all devices in the home or the workplace for known bad actors, proactively blocking links and connections that Plume has identified as potentially dangerous.
Plume blocked cybersecurity threats in the United States rose 48% from 2023 to 2024, measured from January 1 through October 31 each year. Botnets have been driving the largest share of increase, with 103% more threats reported this year than in the previous year. Malware threats, which includes ransomware, have also seen a large increase – 78% – since 2023. The smallest increase came from Phishing which only saw a 14% rise. Spam, Spyware and Adware actually saw a year-over-year decrease of 33% – which indicates that bad actors are changing their tactics.
Not all brands are created equal, and Plume IQ dove deeper to look at how different device types and brands were targeted in attacks. Some highlights include Nintendo Switch devices seeing more threats per device than any other gaming console. While they saw the highest number of threats in 2023 (36% more than any other), Nintendo Switch devices also saw a big jump year-over-year, with almost 50% more threats in 2024.
Another stand out is in the streaming device category where Amazon Fire TV devices – which allow for loading of unauthorized third party applications – receiving more threats than any other brand. Amazon streaming devices saw an average of 336 threats over the time period (52% increase from 2023), no other brand is close. On average, we observed that Apple TV devices experienced 37 threats and Google Chromecast 28 threats on average per device. Roku streaming devices experienced the least at an average of 14 threats per device.
Plume IQ further investigated consumer device threat risks, focusing on whether these risks are tied more to software vulnerabilities or hardware weaknesses. Focusing on the broad range of modern Apple iPhone models from iPhone 11 to iPhone 15, each model shows a relatively close amount of threats on average between models— around 40 threats each with the newer iPhone 15 slowing a slight advantage. This proves the threat risk is based mostly on software and not hardware. iPhone 16s are now online, and we’re watching to see if they exhibit the same behavior.
To combat these cyber threats, Plume employs multi-layer security defense mechanisms. These include: checking internet sites visited by any device on the network for known bad actors, inspecting incoming internet connections for suspicious activity, verifying that IoT devices are not talking to internet servers outside of their normal behavior, and monitoring the use of home and very small business applications to prevent remote access from the internet.
Plume Named Consumer Cybersecurity Solution Market Leader
“Consumer cybersecurity is an essential offering for all telcos, especially those with ambitions to become digital lifestyle providers. However, to ensure full protection, its essential telcos provide what Omdia refers to as “Total consumer cybersecurity”, protecting all of their connected devices across all networks and all of the time.” – Michael Philpott, Research Director, Service Provider Consumer at Omdia
Omdia recently released their vendor assessment and market report: Omdia Market Radar: Total consumer cybersecurity solutions for telcos and included Plume as a leader in the industry.
News Roundup
“You can imagine how important it is to optimise Wi-Fi in a country with a huge number of apartments and a very high density of users – which by the way is also the case for most Japanese businesses. Without a solid means of managing Wi-Fi there’s a high risk of poor performance and poor QoE due to high interference levels. We’re now working with J:COM to extend the benefits of our platform to very small businesses, MDUs, and to new FTTH-based subscribers,” says Adam Hotchkiss, Co-founder & VP of Customer Solutions at Plume.”
“Cable operator J:Com has expanded its partnership with Plume beyond the residential segment with new services across Japan. The new services include WorkPass, featuring a bespoke solution for very small businesses; and Uprise, enabling property owners and managers to provide turnkey experiences for multi-dwelling unit (MDU) tenants with seamless connectivity, access controls, and property management.”
“The next evolution of providing connectivity to dense populations is not about increasing speeds. It’s about coming together and being smarter in how we manage WiFi networks. Make adaptive WiFi part of your holistic solution to provide better experiences for everybody.”
#PlumeStrong
“Every year I’m part of a crazy fundraiser, the PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge. This year it
was five stages from Zurich to Venice, 824km and over 15,000m of climbing….If I can give them my time and that helps get a bit of recognition, I’m super-happy. It’s for a good cause.” – Tadej Pogačar
Cyclist magazine : December 2024 issue is available on newsstands now
This year’s #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge (#PSCC24) raised an impressive €637,000 to support Street Child and fund the construction of 20 secondary schools in Sierra Leone.
Additionally, the inaugural #PlumeStrong Philanthropic Gala Dinner on October 19 raised $413,700 to support the Ron Brown Scholar Program and the launch of the Ron Brown Venture Lab.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported #PSCC24, as well as our Gala Dinner partners, participants, and donors for their invaluable contributions.
Check out the #PlumeStrong 2024 Highlights here.
