AVG chief warns on perils of avoiding security threats

AVG chief warns on perils of ignoring security threats

27 APR 2015

VIDEO INTERVIEW: The history of computing has brought devices successively closer to the individual, yet each step appears to put less attention on security, cautions Gary Kovacs, AVG Technologies’ CEO, during an interview with Mobile World Live.

Bringing the internet of things (IoT) into the home and attaching wearable devices to our bodies means consumers will be sharing the kind of data about their habits and health that would have previously been inconceivable

“Every platform change brings the computer closer to our skin, from mainframe to desktop to laptops to wearables through smartphones. What we are aware is being transmitted is heart rate, blood pressure, our location, our movement, what our activity levels are,” points out Kovacs.

And as computing has becoming increasingly personalised and ubiquitous, the level of consumer engagement about security seems to have tailed off, laments the AVG chief.

“It’s interesting that with each platform change, we are talking about security less. And that’s something that has to change,” he argued.

But what is the motivation for users, who can be pretty careless with their data? “Their motivation is once we start educating them about risks and the type of things being comprised then we will open people’s eyes,” said Kovacs.

View the full video here.

Author

Richard Handford

Richard is the editor of Mobile World Live’s money channel and a contributor to the daily news service. He is an experienced technology and business journalist who previously worked as a freelancer for many publications over the last decade including...

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