{"id":272301,"date":"2018-09-19T10:48:53","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T08:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=272301"},"modified":"2018-09-19T10:48:53","modified_gmt":"2018-09-19T08:48:53","slug":"streaming-safely-how-to-reduce-risk-as-you-cut-the-cord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/272301\/streaming-safely-how-to-reduce-risk-as-you-cut-the-cord\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming safely: how to reduce risk as you cut the cord"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Cutting the cord\u2019 is a global trend, as growing numbers of consumers move from traditional broadcasting and pay-TV to streamed content from video on demand services such as Netflix, Amazon and Showmax.\u00a0 In the U.S. research company eMarketer<\/a><\/u><\/strong> says the number of adults who have cancelled their pay-TV services will climb 32.8% this year, to 33 million people.\u00a0 In South Africa, research firm BMIT\u2019s Digital Lifestyle Measure (DLM)<\/strong><\/a><\/u> report says that among South Africa\u2019s DLM5 (high tech) consumers, up to 63% have DStv at home, 62% have a Netflix subscription, and 51% have a Showmax subscription. 58% of DLM5 consumers also own a Smart TV.<\/p>\n

There is every reason to expect South Africans to embrace streamed content as data costs drop and more consumers acquire smartphones, laptops and smart TVs. But while streamed entertainment is a compelling proposition, there are risks involved, says cyber security specialist Fortinet.<\/p>\n

Doros Hadjizenonos, regional sales director at Fortinet, says a major risk lies in downloading pirated movies and TV series: \u201cWhen you download illegal content, you\u2019d connect to a file-sharing application. File sharing through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is commonly used for distributing malware.\u00a0 So not only do you not know what\u2019s coming down the line into your own network and devices, you also open a back door into your systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even using legitimate mainstream streaming services can present risks, Hadjizenonos says: \u201cMany people use media servers that were produced some time ago, manufactured without security a top priority, or which have not been updated regularly. If hackers can compromise the media server, they can access your network. This presents a risk to all the devices on your home network, and all the personal information on that network.\u201d In addition, the routers consumers use could also be vulnerable: earlier this year, the UK and US accused Russia of hacking potentially millions of home routers in global cyberattacks. \u201cAnd if someone has access to your network through your router, they can access the personal data on your devices, including your passwords,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Hadjizenonos says staying secure in an age of streaming means staying alert to potential risks, and \u00a0ensuring that routers, gaming consoles and media servers have been secured and updated.<\/p>\n

Fortinet\u2019s FortiGate unified threat management solutions include routers and network security appliances suitable for home and small business use, protecting against external attacks and data theft with a simple, affordable solution that is easily managed via a single console.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African viewers are joining the global trend to move from traditional TV to streamed content. Here\u2019s how to make the move securely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":272335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[7169,26],"class_list":["post-272301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-fortinet","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272301"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272339,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272301\/revisions\/272339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}