Smart Home devices are increasingly found in consumers’ homes these days. Although this of course brings a lot of convenience for the consumer, there are also disadvantages associated with it. For example, Smart Home devices are often very expensive and quite a bit of configuration is required to get it all working. However, there is one major drawback that not many consumers take into account, which is the danger of hackers. In this article we are therefore going to look at the danger of Smart Home devices for your online safety.
How do hackers gain access?
Not installing updates
Hackers often gain access because the Smart Home equipment is not fully updated. The developers of the equipment periodically release updates, which are highly recommended to install on your device. These updates contain bug fixes. These are minor improvements for, for example, the security of the various systems and the software installed on the Smart Home devices.
If these updates are not installed, hackers can use them very easily. The updates that the developers make are often posted online. By means of so-called ‘reverse engineering’ hackers can find out which small improvements have been made to the systems. However, if users have not installed these updates, it means that there is a security hole. Hackers then go to random devices to see which holes have not yet been closed, and then make use of them.
Weak passwords
Another common mistake is that people use a very easy password for systems. This also applies to smart home devices. Simple passwords allow hackers to use simple algorithms that try out different passwords. This allows them to access your devices very easily, without leaving a trace. This allows them to retrieve data from your device, without you even noticing it.
Bad settings
Many developers of smart home devices are very good at making the devices, but are less adept at connecting these devices to the internet. Because of this, this base is very limited, which makes it easier for hackers to connect to these devices.
In addition, developers are often afraid to make the device unfriendly to use if too many bells and whistles are installed on it. As a result, they often choose to keep the device as simple as possible, which is often at the expense of the security of the software. The user experience may be much better, but it can have many negative consequences for the security of your device.
What can you do about it?
Install a VPN
First of all, you can start by downloading and installing a VPN on the network you use at home. As a result, your home IP address will take on the IP address of the VPN server ( https://nordvpn.com/nl/servers/ ). It then appears as if your IP address is located at the location of the server. The data you send and receive is also sent encrypted, so that it is at least not possible for hackers to discover data that you send and receive with your Smart Home devices.
Use a strong password
Using a strong password is a simple way to apply a first layer of security to your devices. It can help to use a password generator. It will generate a completely random password for you. Often people often use the same password, a password is used that has a personal connection with the person or simple passwords such as dates of birth or house number are used. A password generator prevents these kinds of passwords and creates a password based on different characters, capital letters and numbers, making it a very difficult thing to retrieve.
Two factor authentication
Two-factor authentication can also help keep your device safe. After entering your initial password, a message will be sent to your phone. You must enter the code that you then receive on your phone into the system to actually gain access to the device. This allows you to build in extra security when people want to gain access to your device.
As you can see, there are several ways to access Smart Home devices. Fortunately, there are also plenty of measures you can take to counteract these risks. Start with a strong password, update your device regularly and download a VPN that connects to a strong VPN server to make it as difficult as possible for hackers.