As a tech journalist, I am surprisingly hardline about limiting the number of smart and internet-enabled devices in my home. Mostly because I firmly believe that no one should be able to post to social media from their refrigerator, and an oven does not need to integrate Alexa for me to bake a cake.

But another big reason I'm cautious is that the more smart devices you have connected to your network, the easier it is for hackers to access your data. It's a big security risk that's more prevalent than you'd think.

While many new smart TVs and internet-enabled appliances offer some level of data protection, whether through a dedicated chipset or integrated malware detection, these measures are at best weak and at worst outright ineffective. Thankfully, if you already subscribe to a VPN or are considering one, adding protection to your smart TV is fast and simple.

A VPN will encrypt your streaming, web browsing, and download data from end-to-end. This means that unless they have very sophisticated software and eternal patience, a hacker will have a very difficult time accessing your activity and personal data.

Even if your TV has built-in cyber protection hardware or software, a VPN can help close any potential gaps that bad actors may exploit. This is especially the case if you've got ACR turned on, as a VPN proactively masks your TV's real IP address and encrypts its traffic. The same behavior happens with ISP-based content throttling, with the VPN blocking your provider from seeing exactly what you're streaming.

And on a more fun note, a VPN can also open up a whole new world of streaming options by letting you access content that isn't available in your home country. With a single click, you can set your virtual location to just about anywhere in the world to trick streaming services into showing you movies and shows that are otherwise unavailable for you to browse.