Australian homes face 29 daily cyberattacks amid smart device boom

Research conducted by Bitdefender and NETGEAR has found that the average Australian household now possesses 22 connected devices and encounters close to 29 attempted cyberattacks daily, an increase from 10 attacks per day last year.

The findings are drawn from the 2025 IoT Security Landscape Report, which analyses threat intelligence from 6.1 million smart homes located in Australia, North America, and Europe. The study explores the methods by which cybercriminals use automation, insecure firmware, and outdated technology to compromise homes on a broad scale.

Attack landscape expanding

The report indicates a significant escalation in both device adoption and associated attack frequency. The researchers identified that from January to October 2025, there were 13.6 billion IoT attacks and 4.6 billion vulnerability exploitation attempts. These figures illustrate the expanding risk as connected ecosystems within homes become more prevalent.

According to the report, a range of everyday devices are being targeted. Streaming devices made up 25.9% of attacks, smart TVs 21.3%, and IP cameras 8.6%, collectively representing over half of all detected IoT vulnerabilities. These devices are described as frequent points of entry for attackers, as they often remain unpatched or are infrequently updated by homeowners.

Highlighting the importance of timely software updates, the research revealed that more than 99% of IoT exploits focus on already known and fixed vulnerabilities. This pattern demonstrates that failure to update and manage devices securely exposes households to preventable risks.

"The explosion of connected devices has transformed homes into complex digital ecosystems, but it's also made every lightbulb, camera, and router a potential target," said Ciprian Istrate, Senior Vice President of Operations at Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group. "Our research with NETGEAR shows that IoT security can no longer be treated as optional. Protection has to start at the network level, inside routers, gateways, and even at the ISP edge to stay ahead of increasingly automated and industrial-scale attacks."

Emerging threats and device roles

The report also drew attention to several notable incidents from 2025, including the use of hijacked routers in a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack reaching 22.2 terabytes per second, and the spread of the China-based BadBox botnet, which infected over one million Android devices prior to their distribution. Another significant risk involved solar inverters, which researchers found could be manipulated in attempts to destabilise national power grids.

Within home environments, mobile phones now account for 19.6% of all connected endpoints, making them the most common device type, ahead of smart TVs at 9.5% and streaming devices at 7.3%.

Bitdefender and NETGEAR's analysis indicates that the most frequently successful attacks against IoT devices are overflow and Denial-of-Service operations, while more sophisticated privilege escalation and code execution attacks are also in evidence, allowing complete device takeover.

Cybersecurity vigilance

"Connectivity is no longer just about speed and coverage, but also about trust," said Jonathan Oakes, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Home Networking at NETGEAR. "The router sits at the heart of every digital home, offering protection at the point where it matters most - the network itself. Security can't be an afterthought; it must be built in from the start."

Bitdefender and NETGEAR outlined ongoing work to address these security challenges through integrated solutions such as NETGEAR Armour, which is included with a range of NETGEAR routers and mesh Wi-Fi systems. The platform offers detection and mitigation of current and emerging threats, vulnerability assessment, and tools to protect users from phishing attempts, data theft, and general cyber risks in connected households.

The research concludes that while home connectivity brings increased convenience, it also requires more rigorous approaches to security, especially given the scale and automation of current threats.