Many homes today are packed with interconnected devices, from phones and tablets to cooking and kitchen appliances and security systems. However, it also comes with too much ease of connectivity. Many modern residential spaces like condos come with smart home facilities. As you desire to get the right living space for you, make sure what kind of residence you are looking for and weigh in positives through comparison, for instance between a condo vs apartment. Turning your residence into a smart home can be a good move.
However, all smart home gadgets and devices are vulnerable to a range of attacks. There are various cybersecurity threats associated with all ‘standalone’ smart devices such as lamps, appliances and locks. As you buy a new home or rent a new space consider this as we would like you to keep in mind both the dangers of hacking and the measures that you can take to prevent it. Just to give a glimpse of the danger of hacking into your smart home devices, we list out ten types of such devices that can be hacked.
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1. Smart Bulbs – Smart bulbs are a simple target for uploading malware by cybercriminals because they have a large level of security protocol loopholes.
2. Smart Cameras – Smart cameras can be vulnerable to hacking since the recordings are stored in the cloud, which can be hacked and private footage may be misused.
3. Smart Speakers – Smart speakers act as a hub to all the smart devices around your house. A recent study has shown that they can be compromised by using a laser, while the most common way to hack into your smart speaker is via the internet.
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4. Smart Home Appliances – These appliances are connected to the internet for almost the entire duration. A danger of smart home appliances being hacked is that the hackers can cause them to malfunction which can be dangerous to both life and property.
5. Smart Locks – Hacking into a smart lock, can be one of the most dangerous things with regards to smart home devices. Through its connectivity to the internet, hackers can break into a smart lock and cause damage to life and loss of property.
6. Baby Monitors – There have been reports of baby monitors attached to cameras being hacked as the hackers used strange sounds and expletive language.
7. Garage Door Openers – Smart home devices that are outdoors like Garage Door Openers are considered to be the most vulnerable to hacking as they may be easily reachable to someone driving down the street with a computer or other Wi-Fi transmitter.
8. Smart Personal Assistant or Smart Hubs – These devices basically act as a central hub in controlling most of your smart home devices. However, there are chances that many of the smart hubs may be hacked due to vulnerable entry-points or weak security tokens.
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9. Smart Thermostats – You might wonder why would anybody hack into a smart thermostat. Well, there can be primarily two reasons, one can be to alter temperatures, which can be a sort of playing a prank. The other reason can be to get into your hub and other devices which might be linked to the thermostat.
10. Smart Doorbells – Smart doorbells are also susceptible to hacking due to its location, that is, outside of the house which can be easily accessed through a Wi-Fi transmitter, if not remotely by a hacker.
HOW TO PREVENT HACKING?
It can be at times frightening to consider using a smart home given the danger of hacking. However, there are some key measures you can take to prevent it from happening. Take a look at some important measures for securing your smart home devices,
- Remember Passwords are key
Cybersecurity is real. You need to keep your passwords safe. Make sure that each is special, and that at least 12 characters are long. Avoid complete words; “MySecurePasswrd†is much better than “MySecurePassword†simply because it lacks the “o.” Adding numbers and symbols helps, but shouldn’t be prioritised over character length. Don’t forget to offer a suitably obscure name for your broadband network.” You never know. It could be the difference between getting hacked or having confirmed the hacker goes somewhere else.
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- Secure your devices
There are a few extra ways to protect your smart devices even more. Several businesses now provide a security scheme, called two-factor authentication, to manage access to devices. If you want to log into an app, a single-use code will be sent to another of your computers, which will then need to be entered in the original programme. It’s not ideal but it makes access to your accounts nearly impossible for anyone unwanted. Many manufacturers also allow you to opt for automatic hardware and software updates, which is recommended by experts to ensure the latest patches are implemented to patch new vulnerabilities in protection.
- Lock the router
Routers are the digital doorway to the home, and a poorly-secured router can allow an online attacker easy access to all the home automation devices in your network. Users should invest in a router with a good security track record, make sure that the default admin password has been changed, and that it’s running the most current firmware.
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- Reset before Reselling
Just because you’re ready to ditch a device doesn’t mean it’s ready to forget you. After all, your Wi-Fi password and other personal info are often stored on that camera, smart plug, or smart bulb. Before selling or recycling any device, be sure to do a factory reset first. Some devices require a button-press on the actual device, while others allow you to do it from the app. Either way, make sure that info is no longer available through the app. If a device is broken and you’re unable to wipe it clean, make sure it’s really broken and smash its components to pieces.
- Keep Your Devices on a Separate Server
If a hacker can get into one device, which is on the same server as the other devices, they will be able to hack all of them. It’s important to keep your computers and devices on separate servers to curb a potential hack. Users can set up a virtual local area network to split an internet connection. A VLAN makes it so if a device is hacked, others will not be affected. A VLAN can be built through an internet connection portal online or through an IT company.
As you invest in smart home devices to turn your home into a modern smart home, make sure you get good equipment and take necessary measures to secure your home and prevent any hacking into your smart home devices.
