A recent study said that almost three-quarters or 70 percent of all Internet of Things (IoT) devices are vulnerable to hacking.

The study was conducted by Hewlett-Packard (HP), a leading multinational information technology corporation, that wants to understand IoT security risks.

The Internet of Things is the interconnection of smart devices like smart TVs and smartphones within the existing Internet infrastructure.

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Most of the time, IoT has an access to personal data like banking information and social security numbers.

HP reviewed 10 common smart devices which include webcams, thermostats, and smart TVs. The study said that each smart device contains roughly 25 vulnerabilities.

Most of the vulnerabilities have to do with insufficient password strength and weak protection software.

Eight out of 10 smart devices failed to ask for passwords strong enough to protect the device. The same number put users at risk of revealing their personal information via cloud services.

A statement by HP said that "Late last year, we were hearing a lot about Internet of Things, and a bit about IoT security, but had not seen anything that focused on the complete picture of IoT security."

HP decided to start the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Internet of Things Top 10 Project with a goal of educating people about Internet of Things security.

Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm, foresees there will be around 26 billion individual IoT objects around the globe by 2020.

In 2009, roughly nine billion IoT devices were sold.

Peter Middleton, Gartner research director, said that a lot of categories of connected things in 2020 don't exist yet.

"As product designers dream up ways to exploit the inherent connectivity that will be offered in intelligent products, we expect the variety of devices offered to explode," Middleton added.

TagsIoT, HP, Hewlett Packard, Gadgets, hacking, Gartner, study security risk, smart devices, mobile