Making a Smart Home a Safe Home
Smart home technologies have revolutionized our everyday lives, bringing the wonders of the internet directly into our homes. Liberty Global’s market-leading gigabit speed broadband services are turbo-boosting these changes, making smart homes a reality for our eleven million customers across Europe.
It’s predicted that by 2025 there will be over 64 million IoT devices being used worldwide. This is an astonishing increase from 10 billion in 2018.[1] Devices such as video doorbells, smart appliances and voice controllers are now commonplace in modern homes and are changing the way we go about everyday life. However, unbeknownst to many users, these devices can also provide an access point for hackers trying to gain remote access to your home network or personal data.
To give our customers the reassurance they rightly demand, we’ve partnered with SAM Seamless Network to launch a state-of-the-art cyber security system across our network. SSAM acts as a gatekeeper to protect the multi-device home, covering everything from phones and laptops, to smart devices such as baby monitors. Available to all our customers by 2021, the seamless network will be integrated onto our routers, securing every connection point even as it moves outside the home, thereby creating a simple solution to cyber security, making any house Smart-home ready.
Protecting the network through device fingerprint
Telenet was the first Liberty Global entity to launch SSAM. Branded Safespot, Belgian customers have been introduced to the multifunctional platform that incorporates both cyber and anti-virus security, all integrated into one App. The app contains a device identification feature known as the fingerprint which shows everything connected to the home network and instantly blocks any unrecognised devices. The fingerprint is the first step in controlling your privacy and allows for a quick and complete audit of all devices attached to the home network through the Connect App.
Protecting the family through internet controls
A recent report from the British regulator Ofcom found that 44% of UK parents with 12-15 year olds agreed that they found it hard to control children’s screen time.[2]
We’ve responded by introducing time controls on devices which can block access to the internet at certain times, such as during meals or after bedtime, as well as limiting the amount of time spent on certain sites. A content filter feature meanwhile ensures that no inappropriate content can be found by children, with an automatic notification being sent should the monitoring app be deleted.
Furthermore, internet controls provide detailed insights into usage across all devices in and out of the home, providing parents with access to the data on internet usage within the household. The parental controls are made to stay in place regardless of the tech-literacy of any of the users as it is centralized through the account payer not users.
The aim of the SAM partnership is to ensure that as society’s digital usage grows, we continue to protect our customers and delight them with the best innovations in connectivity and cyber security.
