Smart TVs, smart plugs and network-attached storage devices accounted for 67.1% of observed device vulnerabilities in the 2026 IoT Security Landscape Report, a study from NETGEAR and Bitdefender. The report is based on telemetry from 10.4 million smart homes globally and covers 5.4 billion security events and 1.2 billion vulnerability observations.
The findings arrive as the average household’s connected-device count continues to grow. According to the report, homes now contain 24 smart devices on average, up from 22 a year earlier. The device mix includes televisions, security cameras, streaming dongles, Wi-Fi plugs and other products connected behind the home router, increasing the number of endpoints that may require ongoing visibility and management.
Three device categories dominate the findings
Smart TVs represented the largest share of vulnerability observations in the report, followed by smart plugs and NAS devices. NETGEAR and Bitdefender said these categories together produced more than two-thirds of all observations recorded in the study.
| Device category | Share of observed vulnerabilities | Reported observations |
|---|---|---|
| Smart TVs | 22.7% | 270.3 million |
| Smart plugs | 22.4% | Not specified |
| NAS devices | 22.0% | Not specified |
The report describes smart TVs as particularly significant because they combine several network-connected functions. Its analysis identifies the television as a possible direct attack target, a proxy for relaying third-party traffic, a sensor that gathers information about its surroundings and a potential foothold into the broader home network.
One example cited in the report involves third-party smart-TV applications. Security firm Spur identified software development kits bundled into free television apps that could open a local proxy listener. In the cases described, the home internet connection could be used to relay outside traffic for activities marketed as AI web scraping, ad verification and market research. The report does not characterize every smart-TV application as affected; it presents the findings as examples of the exposure associated with connected television software.
Older hardware remains visible in the dataset
The report also points to the continued appearance of older television hardware in its observations. A 2020 LG OLED C-series model label appeared 29.1 million times, while LG-branded labels collectively accounted for 197.4 million CVE observations, or 16.6% of the total cited by the study.
NETGEAR and Bitdefender’s results place network visibility alongside device selection as a security consideration for connected-home deployments. The report’s most prominent categories span residential AV, power control and storage, rather than being limited to traditionally recognized computing products. For integrators and dealers, that places the television, plug and NAS within the same connected environment that also includes cameras, streaming equipment and control devices.
- Households averaged 24 connected devices, compared with 22 a year earlier.
- Smart TVs generated 270.3 million vulnerability observations and represented 22.7% of the total.
- Smart TVs, smart plugs and NAS devices together represented 67.1% of observed vulnerabilities.
