ADT & McAfee
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On the heels of ADT’s announcement at CES regarding its partnership with McAfee to release collaborated products that offer both physical and digital security protection for its customers, the No. 1 ranked company on the 2013 SDM 100 released a study that reinforces the new partnership and ADT’s direction into total security for the home, personal lives and on-the-go.

ADT and McAfee released the results of a survey that looked at the parallels between personal and online security. When asked, 39 percent of respondents said they use technological devices to control their home security systems and 34 percent use smartphones to do so.

Commissioned by The Futures Company, the joint survey of more than 1,000 consumers shows that more than 51 percent of respondents reported having their personal security compromised through both physical and online breaches. When asked to define “personal security,” about 77 percent of survey participants consider it to intertwine both physical and online security, providing further insight that digital and physical lives have merged into one.

While 31 percent of respondents said their smartphone presented the most potential for security risk and 49 percent stated that their computers are more vulnerable, 41 percent still fear losing smartphones most in a public setting. Though this is the case, respondents did not seem too concerned with protecting them, and many are comfortable sharing their passwords with others. Two in three smartphone users (67 percent) and tablet users (65 percent) report that they protect their devices with a password, yet nearly half (49 percent) admitted to sharing their password with at least one other person, risking their personal security and all the data found on the device.

Surprisingly, 33 percent of people use their devices to control their physical alarm systems, and yet more than half of them fail to secure their devices with basic protection such as private passwords.

Among those who have experienced a home break-in, 59 percent reported a computer or mobile device among stolen items. Reportedly, an estimated 1.6 million Americans had their smartphones stolen in 2012. This is especially important considering 30 percent of Android and Windows smartphone users and 50 percent of iPhone users do not lock their mobile devices.

“With the Internet of Things rapidly evolving, our partnership with ADT marks a critical advance in protecting consumers’ property and information in more ways than ever before,” stated John Giamatteo, senior vice president and general manager of McAfee consumer business.

As SDM previously reported, the initial phase of the ADT/McAfee security collaboration will include bundling ADT Pulse with McAfee LiveSafe, a data, identity and digital device protection service. Together, they will provide further protection for a customer’s home or business, accessible through any Web-connected smartphone or tablet.

 “Partnering with McAfee adds another vital layer of security to our Pulse solution with McAfee LiveSafe service, and opens up innovation opportunities for our platforms and products,” said Arthur Orduña, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at ADT, in a statement.