Jun 3, 2026
At CES 2026, one thing was impossible to miss: everything wants to be “smart.” This year’s show featured AI-packed consumer gadgets well beyond the usual phones and TVs, including Samsung’s “Bespoke AI” refrigerator, Amazon Ring’s new AI-driven doorbell features, an always-on AI companion device called Ami that tracks eye movement and tone of voice, and even sensor-packed LEGO Smart Bricks that turn a traditional toy into a connected computer. The message from the market is clear: manufacturers are racing to add intelligence, connectivity, and data collection to almost anything they can sell.
That might sound like harmless innovation, but it comes with a serious cybersecurity catch. The more products that connect to apps, cloud services, and other devices, the more data they gather about users’ behavior, routines, locations, and preferences. That is why the growing Internet of Things is no longer just a consumer-tech story. It is a business-security story. When employees bring smart wearables, AI companions, connected toys, or other “helpful” devices into the workplace, those gadgets do not stop being data collectors just because they crossed the office threshold.
What Counts as IoT?
The Internet of Things, or IoT, used to bring to mind a fairly limited list of devices: thermostats, cameras, appliances, and smart speakers. But that definition is no longer big enough. Today, IoT includes connected wearables, AI companions, app-linked accessories, smart office gadgets, sensor-enabled toys, and novelty products that would have sounded ridiculous only a few years ago. CES 2026 helped show how wide that category has become.
When products like these connect to apps, accounts, wireless networks, and cloud services, they stop being simple objects and start acting like endpoints. With this shift, security must change. A smart device is not risky only when it looks obviously “technical.” The real risk arises when it can collect information, communicate with other systems, receive updates, or create a new path to sensitive data.
The Hidden Data Problem: Your Devices Know More Than You Think
The biggest IoT risk is not always the device itself. NIST warns that organizations need to understand all data collected or reported by IoT devices because it can include personal information, confidential organizational information, and other sensitive system data. CES 2026 offered some unusually clear examples of that problem: privacy advocates specifically flagged products that track eye movement, tone of voice, and biometric signals, as well as devices that make increasingly aggressive use of surveillance-style features.
Once data is collected, it becomes something that can be stolen, sold, misused, or exposed. A recent FTC case against GM alleged that connected vehicles collected and sold drivers’ precise geolocation and driving-behavior data without meaningful consent, which is a useful reminder that “smart” products often gather far more information than users expect.
For businesses, the takeaway is bigger than consumer privacy. IoT devices operate inside a broader environment that includes cloud services, other devices, people, and supporting systems. That means a smart toy, wearable, desk device, or accessory is part of a larger data ecosystem, and every new data stream creates one more opportunity for cybercriminals to learn how people work, what they do, and where sensitive information might live.
From Home to Office: When Consumer IoT Becomes Business Risk
The problem with consumer IoT is that it does not stay in the consumer world. Smart devices employees use at home can easily follow them into the workplace, where they create new privacy, security, and network concerns. A device does not have to be company-owned to become a business risk.
Once personal smart devices enter the office, they can create problems in several ways:
- They connect to business environments through guest Wi-Fi, nearby devices, synced apps, or shared workspaces.
- They collect more data than people realize, including location, behavior, audio cues, and usage patterns.
- They can sit in sensitive areas like conference rooms, offices, or shared desks without any formal review.
- They blur the line between personal and business technology, making it harder for IT to know what is present and what risk it creates.
- They increase the attack surface by adding more connected endpoints to the environment.
- They often fall outside normal oversight, especially if they are brought in informally by employees.
For SMBs, this is where the IoT issue becomes a real business problem. A smart wearable, connected toy, AI companion, or app-linked accessory may look harmless, but once it enters the workplace, it can introduce the same kind of risk as any other unmanaged connected device. Without clear policies and strong network controls, businesses may not even realize the exposure is there until something goes wrong.
The SMB Blind Spot: Shadow IoT
For many small and midsize businesses, the real problem is unmanaged IoT. In practice, this becomes a kind of shadow IoT: connected devices that show up in the environment without IT approval, visibility, or monitoring. After all, you can’t properly control something you don’t know is there.
That is a serious blind spot for SMBs and CIOs because IoT devices often do not behave like normal endpoints. If your team doesn’t have a current inventory of connected devices or a policy for what is allowed in the office, you are already behind the problem.
It becomes easier for employees to see AI companions, surveillance-heavy doorbells, and other always-connected gadgets as harmless personal accessories rather than networked computers with sensors and data collection built in. That is exactly why SMBs need to rethink policy now. A personal smart device brought into the office may not look like shadow IT, but from a security standpoint, it can function the same way.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Cybersecurity Risk Management Framework
The IoT problem is no longer limited to obvious devices like cameras, printers, and smart thermostats. As more connected consumer products enter everyday life, businesses need policies that treat smart gadgets as potential network and data risks, not harmless personal items.
SMBs and CIOs should:
- Update acceptable-use policies to clearly prohibit employees from bringing unapproved smart devices into the workplace if those devices can connect, record, monitor, or sync with business systems.
- Build and maintain an inventory of connected devices so IT knows what is actually present on the network.
- Segment IoT and guest traffic away from business-critical systems so a risky or unknown device does not have broad access to the main environment.
- Require approval before any connected device is used in offices, conference rooms, or shared business spaces.
- Review what data a device collects and where that data goes before allowing it anywhere near the workplace. Always account for IoT data flows, including sensitive organizational and personal information.
- Monitor for unknown or unmanaged devices as part of routine network oversight. Continuous monitoring and assessments are essential across devices connected to the environment.
- Add smart-device risk to employee training so staff understand that a toy, wearable, or AI accessory can create the same kind of exposure as more traditional shadow IT.
The bottom line is simple: if company policy only covers phones and laptops, it is already outdated. Modern device policies need to account for the growing wave of smart consumer technology before those products become a quiet entry point into the business.
Ensure Your Network is Protected with Blade Technologies
CES 2026 is a reminder that the Internet of Things is expanding faster than most business policies are. As more toys, wearables, accessories, and household-style gadgets become “smart,” businesses are inheriting a growing security problem whether they planned for it or not. The real issue is not that these products are novel; it's that every connected device can collect data, create visibility into behavior, and add one more point of exposure to the environment around it.
For SMBs and CIOs, the takeaway is simple: policies need to change. If your acceptable-use rules only account for laptops and phones, they are already behind the market. Modern device policies should address employee-brought smart devices and clearly prohibit unapproved connected products that could record, monitor, sync, or otherwise compromise the business network.
Blade Technologies can help businesses close that gap. From network monitoring and managed cybersecurity to day-to-day tech support, Blade helps organizations improve visibility, tighten controls, and respond faster when suspicious activity appears on the network. If your business needs a smarter way to handle the risks created by connected devices, now is a good time to connect with Blade Technologies and strengthen both your policy and your protection.
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