The pandemic changed many habits, as noted by our expert Tom Galvin, such as working from home and how and where we stream our favorite entertainment. We nearly saw the collapse of movie theaters as people hunkered down at home at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Yet even though the world has mostly normalized back to pre-pandemic ways of life, viewing habits adopted during that time have stayed the same and even increased. According to the Motion Picture Association, 2020 saw a 26% year-over-year growth in streaming subscriptions, which led to 1.1 billion online video subscribers globally. Netflix and chill, anyone?
The danger of that is as we stream more and people actually go to piracy streaming, that leads to risks. The risk of malware and other threats that come into the home. As our media consumption habits evolved with increased levels of streaming, the potential for issues has increased as well. With the changing landscape of the entertainment industry and new SVOD (streaming video on demand) options popping up more frequently, it can be difficult to know which platforms are worth the money and will keep your data and devices safe.
Businesses, and even government entities, now face additional risks as well with employees working from home. Without having the same safety nets in place with home networks as you would in an office, there is a higher likelihood of someone stumbling down the wrong path and ending up on a piracy site that could cause harm for the business. Likewise, consumers must be diligent with their online activities and streaming habits, whether that’s watching Disney+ with the family after a long day or having their favorite Spotify playlist on while working from a home office. As people spend more time online, scammers and bad actors come up with new ways to do harm.
Using only reputable sites and platforms is the first step to staying safe online. Piracy sites are never worth the risk and could even end up costing you money rather than saving. For example, if your device becomes infected with malware and must be replaced. With all of the legal options available, several of which are free with ads, keeping safe streaming habits is simpler than ever. StreamSafely has plenty of resources to protect you and make sure you can continue to enjoy all your favorite content worry free.
