Smart TVs identified as primary source of home IoT vulnerabilities

A joint report by Bitdefender and NETGEAR, titled the 2026 IoT Security Landscape Report, reveals that smart TVs are the leading category of observed vulnerabilities in home networks, accounting for 22.7% of security issues. This is followed closely by smart plugs at 22.4% and network-attached storage devices at 22%.

Analyzing 5.4 billion security events across approximately 10.4 million protected networks, the research found that the average household now contains 24 connected devices. The report highlights that nearly 99.97% of observed vulnerabilities are linked to publicly documented flaws, often due to unpatched or unsupported hardware. Cybercriminals are reportedly using AI to accelerate attacks on these vulnerabilities.

Beyond direct attacks, the report notes that smart TVs can serve as proxies, sensors, or footholds within a network. Third-party investigations cited in the research suggest some smart TVs may collect voice recordings, track viewing behavior, and monitor other devices on the network, sometimes even when the device appears to be switched off. Additionally, some free smart TV applications have been found to use household internet connections to route third-party traffic for activities such as AI data scraping.