Kaspersky Lab Announces IoT Device Scanner Beta to Aid Smart Home Defense

Woburn, MA – August 23, 2017 – Kaspersky Lab has released a beta version of its solution for the “smart” home and the Internet of Things – Kaspersky IoT Scanner. This free application for the Android platform scans a home Wi-Fi network, informing the user about the devices connected to it and their level of security.

According to analytical data from Gartner, over six billion IoT devices are currently being used worldwide, and many of them have already fallen victim to cybercriminals. For example, last year the world was shaken by the wave of DDoS attacks launched by the Mirai botnet. The Mirai bots used popular vulnerabilities in IoT devices to infect them and turn them into cybercriminal puppets. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to increase in popularity, cybercriminals will continue to look for ways to take advantage of this trend.

Kaspersky IoT Scanner can identify smart devices such as Wi-Fi routers, IP cameras, Smart TVs, Wi-Fi printers, NAS network storage devices, media servers and game consoles, as well as computers, tablets or smartphones, in the home network. The solution can then notify the user when any new or familiar device is connected to, or disconnects from, the network. This allows people to be aware of who is accessing his or her home network at any moment, and encouraging IoT users to think about the security risks of their smart home devices.

“Kaspersky Lab’s mission is to save the world from cyberthreats. And it’s not just words, we are working every day to make the internet safer for our users,” said Andrei Mochola, head of consumer business at Kaspersky Lab. “We offer many free solutions for a variety of tasks and platforms, and Kaspersky IoT Scanner is another solution that allows a significant portion of netizens – namely, users of smart devices – to stay protected.”

The solution is available for beta testing in Google Play in a limited number of countries. To download the Kaspersky IoT Scanner, please click this link.