Cybercriminals are taking advantage of “lax” IoT device security in home networks and consumer connected devices to spread malware and create “zombie” networks, or “botnets,” said a Symantec report Thursday. Cybercriminals are “hijacking” home networks and connected devices to help carry out distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on more profitable targets, typically large companies, by “stitching together a large web of consumer devices that are easy to infect because they lack sophisticated security,” said Symantec. More than half of all IoT attacks originate from China and the U.S., based on the location of IP addresses used to launch malware attacks, it said. High numbers of attacks also are originating in Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam, though attackers may use proxy IP addresses to hide their true location, it said. Most IoT malware targets non-PC embedded devices such as web servers, routers, modems, network attached storage devices, closed-circuit television systems, and industrial control systems, said Symantec. Attackers are aware of insufficient IoT security, it said, and many program their malware with commonly used and default passwords, allowing them to easily hijack IoT devices. Poor security on many IoT devices makes them easy targets, and victims often don’t know they've been infected. Attackers tend to be less interested in the victim, hoping instead to hijack a device to add it to a botnet, most of which are used to perform DDoS attacks, it said. IoT devices are a prime target because they're designed to be plugged in and forgotten after basic set-up, Symantec said. The most common passwords IoT malware used to attempt to log into devices involved “root” and “admin,” an indication, said the company, “that default passwords are frequently never changed.”

Most of the two dozen hospital cyberattacks globally in the first half of 2016, including 13 in the U.S., involved ransomware, said a McAfee Labs threats report Wednesday: Those attacks, which largely infected systems through phishing, weren't executed by malicious actors normally seen. "The code and attack was effective but not very sophisticated," the report said. But money can be made quickly through these attacks; the report said ransom paid in Q1 attacks against hospitals was about $100,000 total. The report said most hospitals didn't pay ransom, but those targeted by one threat called "samsam" did seem to pay. McAfee, which is part of Intel Security, said hospitals are easy targets due to a "combination of legacy systems with weak security, a lack of employee security awareness, a fragmented workforce, and the pressing need for immediate access to information." Experts at an FTC event last week on ransomware (see 1609070044) said it's a growing threat that's spreading to sectors beyond healthcare.

Companies will spend more than $12 billion per year on advertising via digital assistants by 2021, said a Tuesday Juniper Research report. It said use of digital assistants such as Alexa, Cortana and Siri on smart devices will provide paid search opportunities in the coming years as they expand from integration in smartphones and PCs to connected homes and cars. Juniper expects digital assistants to offer monetization opportunities from targeted voice searches, with data on search and location history, shopping habits and demographic information most valuable. But many consumers are likely to avoid the technology for privacy and security reasons, Juniper said. Digital assistants will need to “balance the need for accurate data with consumers’ privacy needs,” said analyst James Moar, and “this will drive changes in how digital assistants are programmed” to ensure data is secure and under users’ control.

Consumer intentions to buy TV sets jumped in August after declining for four straight months, according to preliminary data in the Conference Board’s monthly survey. Nielsen canvassed 5,000 consumers for the Conference Board through Aug. 18, and 13.4 percent said they plan to buy a TV set in the next six months, up from 12.5 percent in July, 12.7 percent in June and 13 percent in August 2015, the Conference Board said. The Consumer Confidence Index, which declined marginally in July, improved in August to its highest level in nearly a year, it said: “Consumers’ assessment of both current business and labor market conditions was considerably more favorable than last month. Short-term expectations regarding business and employment conditions, as well as personal income prospects, also improved, suggesting the possibility of a moderate pick-up in growth in the coming months.”

Smart audio hardware revenue will jump from $1.4 billion this year to more than $5.5 billion by 2020, said a Juniper Research report. Amazon Echo and Google Home devices are projected to lead the category, which will also include ear-based wearables such as Bragi’s Dash and Here Active Listening earphones, said Juniper. The home is the primary location for smart audio because consumers aren’t yet willing to talk to machines in public, said Juniper. Also, smartphones provide similar functions through accessories, limiting the need for separate and portable digital assistant devices, it said. A smaller market for hearables offering active noise cancellation and call handling functionality will emerge, but the biggest category with those features will be fitness devices, Juniper said. Fitness trackers can provide biometrics and voice feedback from coaching software, but the audience is limited, it said.

“Significant work” will be required “to marry the appeal of a unified early 5G standard with the longer term need to support diverse market requirements,” Strategy Analytics said in a Tuesday report. The research firm predicts 5G commercial handset sales will begin in 2020 and exceed 300 million by 2025. “The first commercial 5G handsets will appear in small numbers in 2020 in South Korea and Japan,” and additional markets, including the U.S., U.K., Sweden and China, will launch them a year later, the firm said. “By 2022 tens of millions of 5G handsets will be sold, and as a proportion of total handset sales will reach low single digit percentages.” The first “trial” 5G handsets in 2018 will have “teething problems,” such as short battery life and unstable connectivity, but “these issues will be largely resolved” by 2020, “though the first commercial 5G handsets will likely come with very high price tags,” it said.

Generation plays a big role in how consumers are motivated to engage with mobile advertising, said a Nielsen report Wednesday. A Nielsen survey done in Q2 said 19 percent of millennials, 17 percent of Gen Xers and 14 percent of baby boomers said viewing an ad with a coupon or promotion is the top motivator for them to respond to mobile advertising. Generation Z and the “greatest generation,” meanwhile, are most motivated by an ad targeted to what they’re searching for, with intent and relevance being “key,” it said. Motivators change for Generation Z consumers when they view mobile ads on their tablets, where they’re 16 percent more likely to engage with an ad of a familiar brand, said Nielsen. Fourteen percent are motivated by an ad with a coupon or promotion, it said. The assumption that people across all generations dislike advertising doesn’t hold true for Gen Zers and millennials, Nielsen said. Forty-two percent of Gen Z respondents and 44 percent of millennials said they're OK with advertising if the content they’re engaging with is free and the ads don’t affect their mobile data consumption, it said. Nearly a third of Generation Z and millennials said they’re more likely to click on an ad that doesn’t take them outside of the application or redirect them to another website, it said. Younger users are more willing to give up personal details in exchange for free or reduced-cost content than older consumers, Nielsen said. Some 55 percent of Generation Z and 48 percent of millennials are willing to take action on an ad if given the right mix of branding, convenience and promotional offering, Nielsen said, but Gen X, baby boomers and the greatest generation tend to be more skeptical of releasing personal info, “deal or no deal,” it said. The survey was done with 8,444 respondents 13 years and older who own a tablet, smartphone or streaming device.

Consumer satisfaction with in-car speech recognition systems has fallen sharply as users -- particularly middle-age users in the U.S. -- are frustrated by a performance gap between car electronics and other CE products, said a Tuesday Strategy Analytics report. Satisfaction with in-car touch screens and voice-control systems remains strong among frequent users, but it has dropped across all demographics as consumers' expectations for the technology have grown, said analyst Derek Viita. Other software-based voice control systems can be updated over the air, noted Chris Schreiner, director of Strategy Analytics’ IVX group. “To keep up with this trend, in-car systems must have the same capability," he said. Daily usage of in-car voice control has held steady in Europe, but it has declined in the U.S. and China, said the research firm.

Sixty percent of smartphone users with Pokemon Go were likely to enter a business offering Pokemon-branded discounts to players, said a survey by marketing communications company MGH collected through Survey Monkey Audience. Some 38 percent were likely to buy a Pokemon-themed product, and 60 percent viewed businesses hosting Pokemon promotions favorably, it said. Restaurants and bars topped the list of business categories offering Pokemon-themed products or discounts, followed by retail stores at 44 percent. Facebook (72 percent) and store signage (52 percent) were cited highest for communicating Pokemon-themed discounts. The online survey of 1,000 U.S. smartphone users ages 18-55 was done in July with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level, it said.

British regulator Ofcom estimates 15 million U.K. internet users have embarked on “digital detox” self-help therapy “to strike a healthier balance between technology and life beyond the screen,” said a Thursday report. Ofcom canvassed 2,025 adults on their online habits and found that one in three adult internet users (34 percent), equivalent to 15 million people in the U.K., has “sought a period of time offline,” with one in 10 having done so in the previous week, it said. Of those “digital down-timers,” 25 percent spent up to a day internet-free, while 20 percent took up to a week off and 5 percent went internet-free for up to a whole month, Ofcom said. Respondents had mixed opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of their internet abstinence, it said. A third of those canvassed (33 percent) said they felt “more productive” as a result, and 27 percent found it “more liberating” to stay offline, Ofcom said. But 16 percent said they experienced the “fear of missing out,” 15 percent said they felt “lost,” and 14 percent “cut off,” it said. Ofcom estimates millions of U.K. consumers built their “digital detox” strategies into their vacation plans. Of U.K. adult internet users canvassed, 16 percent reported “purposely” visiting a vacation destination with no internet access, and 9 percent said they intentionally traveled “to a place with neither internet nor mobile phone coverage,” Ofcom said. The internet “has revolutionised our lives for the better,” said the agency. “But our love affair with the web isn’t always plain surfing, and many people admit to feeling hooked. So millions of us are taking a fresh look at the role of technology in our lives, and going on a digital detox to get a better tech-life balance.”