VIDEO INTERVIEW: John Howie, chief privacy officer at Huawei, warned vendors not to “sacrifice security for functionality” in the development of connected devices.

“Connected devices are getting ever smaller,” Howie told Mobile World Live. “They tend to be low power devices, equipped with smaller CPUs, less memory and less storage. As a result, device manufacturers often forget to factor security into the software, to save space.”

Speaking at GSMA’s Mobile 360 Privacy and Security event held last month, Howie also said the industry’s vulnerability to attacks will continue to grow, as he predicted an “explosion in the number of devices coming on to the market”.

“We will be wearing them, carrying them and interacting with them in brand new ways, so we need to protect each of them, even if they are not necessarily connected or always on.”

In the interview, Howie also had some advice for operators in how they can work to protect their customers.

Click here to watch.