Fight back against hackers during the smart home revolution

Engineers and innovators everywhere are building new ways to make our lives at home less demanding, more efficient, and more secure. Smart home devices have created a new market that is growing at a mind-bending pace. Today, the average household has 10 connected smart devices. By 2022, experts believe the average household will eclipse 50 connected smart devices.

There are obvious benefits to this growth. Advancements in data bandwidth and technology now allow homeowners to manage their house from anywhere on the planet.By using a video doorbell camera and smartdoor lock, users can open, lock, and answer their front door all from a remote device, wherever they may be.

However, this also opens the door for unwanted intruders. More (digital) doors and locks for a homeowner create more (digital) opportunities for hackers to enter a home. Each smart home gadget in a household essentially functions as another door or window that can be broken into. Growth in the market of smart home devices has outpaced growth in the market of home security, creating a gap that thieves and intruders will happily exploit.

The threat can come from anywhere. Security specialists showed during a demonstration at an exhibit that they could take control of the lights of an entire office complex by hacking into a smart lightbulb in a single room of the building. That video doorbell and smart lock used to let in guests in? It can also be used by hackers to monitor activity in the house and break in while you’re away. 

Click here to see enlarged version.

In the meantime, there are simple ways to protect your home. While the security industry catches up with the advancements in smart home devices, you can use basic yet effectives methods to secure your home, family, and gadgets. Check out the accompanying infographic to see how you can protect yourself.

This is a guest post and infographic is by Joseph Mack from smart homeSAGE, a blog that analyzes the impact that smart home technology has on home life.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/05/fight-back-against-hackers-during-smart.html