Having a smart home is a convenience that more households enjoy every year. Unfortunately, with that convenience comes brand new dangers. Nearly every smart home device is accessible from the internet. This is meant to provide you, the homeowner, the convenience of monitoring and controlling your home. Unfortunately, it opens new doors into your home for hackers. If you’re doubtful whether your smart home can actually be hacked by anyone, consider the fact that many smart homes already have been hacked.
Hackers have discovered and exploited vulnerabilities in various smart home devices, such as smart plugs, digital video recorders, and baby monitors. They have targeted devices like the Samsung SmartThings Hub and home Wi-Fi cameras, resulting in unauthorized control and privacy breaches. It doesn’t seem important if someone can access your smart home devices since they’re simply a convenience for homeowners. However, using information gathered from these devices, criminals could learn your patterns and estimate the best timeframe to break into your home when you’re not around.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid using smart home devices. It simply means you should purchase devices wisely and follow a few simple rules to secure them.
1. Ensure Regular Firmware Updates
One of the most important protections you have against hackers are the programmers who work for the companies you buy these devices from. When security bugs are discovered, programmers work quickly to patch them. The patches are then pushed out automatically to customer devices. Unfortunately, not all consumer smart home devices offer firmware updates, so make sure to check on this before buying. You can also ensure the firmware is the latest by checking the device or app settings and comparing it to the latest firmware on the company website.
Most companies “push” firmware updates automatically so you don’t have to do anything. However, with other smart home devices, you need to manually update firmware using the device settings or the mobile app. Regularly updating firmware ensures that your devices have the latest security patches and fixes, protecting them from known vulnerabilities. Keeping track of updates and addressing them promptly is a critical step in maintaining the security of your smart home devices.
Ensuring that all your devices have the latest firmware helps minimize the chances of hackers exploiting older, unpatched vulnerabilities. It’s also essential to be aware of any security announcements or updates from the device manufacturers, as these can provide valuable information about potential risks and the measures taken to mitigate them. Always making it a habit to check for firmware updates will help maintain a secure smart home environment.
2. Modify the Device Default Password
One of the most common mistakes people make when buying smart home devices is that they set up the device and leave the default password unchanged. In the case of some devices, like the D-Link wireless camera, there isn’t even an admin password by default. This is the worst scenario because anyone with access to your home wireless network could easily connect to the camera and see what the camera sees.
Most smart home devices let you change the default admin password on the mobile app or the cloud-based interface. This is usually found in the settings area. The first thing you should do when you buy a smart home device is change the default admin password. Also, use a unique password that you haven’t used on any other device. Using a unique and strong password reduces the likelihood of unauthorized access to your devices and helps keep your smart home secure.
When creating a new password, make sure it includes a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters to increase its strength. It’s also crucial to avoid using easily guessable passwords, such as “123456” or “password.” Taking the time to create strong and unique passwords for each device adds an additional layer of security, making it harder for hackers to gain access. Regularly updating passwords and avoiding reused passwords across multiple devices further enhances your smart home’s protection.
3. Secure Your Home Router
The most common path hackers take to access your smart home devices is through unsecured home routers. This means that your first line of defense is to fully secure your router so that hackers can’t use it. First, log in to your router as the administrator so that you can make these changes. The following are a few easy ways to make sure your router is fully secure: Change the default admin password to a unique one you don’t use anywhere else. Disable port forwarding. Enable the router firewall, and set it to either medium or high. Encrypt the Wi-Fi network with a strong password.
Taking these steps to secure your home router prevents hackers from easily accessing your network and, subsequently, your smart home devices. A strong and unique admin password ensures that only you can change the router settings, while enabling the firewall and encryption adds crucial protective barriers.
Regularly reviewing your router’s security settings and making necessary adjustments based on current threats can significantly improve your network’s security. It’s also a good idea to update your router’s firmware whenever updates are available, as these often include vital security patches. By keeping your router secure, you reduce the chances of hackers finding a way into your smart home through the network.
4. Be Cautious With Third-Party Connections
As more smart home device manufacturers offer cloud-based solutions for accessing those devices from the web, the odds of a hacker getting access to your cloud account continue to increase. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use cloud-based interfaces to access your devices. But it does mean you should make sure those cloud accounts are locked down with a strong password. Unfortunately, a strong password isn’t enough if you share the password with potential hackers. You may not willingly do that, but by integrating that cloud account with third-party services, you increase the chances of that account getting hacked.
You can reduce this risk in several ways: Limit third-party access to just a few services. Only integrate with reputable services like IFTTT or Zapier. If possible, add the integration from the smart device app and not the third-party website. Confirm the third-party service uses encryption for all transmissions to and from the service and your device. Remember that once you open up access to a third-party service, all a hacker needs to do is hack that service, and they’ll have access to your smart home device. When you enable access for third-party services, try and limit that access as much as possible. For example, only allowing access to motion detection rather than a Wi-Fi camera video feed is a good way to maintain your smart home security.
By being cautious with third-party connections and monitoring the services you integrate with, you can effectively minimize your risk of account breaches. Ensuring encryption and secure transmissions between services helps safeguard your personal data and smart home devices. Regularly reviewing and managing third-party permissions reduces the chances of unauthorized access through these integrations, maintaining a higher level of security for your smart home.
5. Protect Your Mobile Phone
If a hacker can’t access your home router or get access to your smart home devices through third-party cloud services, there’s one more point of weakness they can exploit: your phone. Nearly every smart home manufacturer offers a mobile app to control or monitor those devices over your in-home wireless network. If a hacker can access your smartphone, they can access those smart home devices.
There are easy ways to protect yourself from this line of attack: Only install reputable mobile apps from Google Play. Don’t root your smartphone. Don’t use your phone to connect to public Wi-Fi networks. Install a reputable mobile antivirus app. When you use your phone to access your smart home devices, it’s more important than ever to consider its security.
Securing your mobile phone against potential threats ensures that hackers cannot exploit it to gain access to your smart home devices. By staying vigilant and implementing protective measures, you can keep your smartphone, and in turn, your smart home, secure from potential hacking attempts. Regularly updating your phone’s software and apps, avoiding suspicious downloads, and practicing good security hygiene further enhance your smartphone’s defenses against cyber threats.
6. Keep Essential Smart Home Devices Offline
A common method thieves use to break into homes is to first break into your car and steal the garage door opener. Then, once you leave for work, they use the garage door controller to open the garage and walk right into your home. These days, as more homeowners install front door smart locks and smart garage door openers, there are other ways for thieves to get in. If those smart devices are connected to a cloud-based account, hackers only need to hack your account to ultimately access your home.
This is why if you depend on any smart home device to protect your home’s physical security, it’s smarter to opt out of any cloud access at all. Buy home security smart home devices that only allow you to access them when you’re connected to your home’s wireless network. Better yet, buy ones that only communicate over Bluetooth and require a secure password for that direct access. Limiting access to these devices through only one path will dramatically improve your smart home security.
Ensuring that essential security devices, such as smart locks and garage door openers, are kept offline or on a more secure communication channel like Bluetooth helps reduce the risk of unauthorized entry. By isolating these critical devices from potential cloud-based vulnerabilities, you maintain tighter control over your home’s physical security. Continuously evaluating the security setup of these primary access points and minimizing exposure to online threats will provide a stronger security framework for your smart home.
The Importance of Smart Home Security
Owning a smart home is a growing trend that brings convenience to more families each year. However, this convenience also introduces new risks. Almost all smart home devices can be accessed via the internet. This design allows homeowners to monitor and control their homes remotely. Unfortunately, it also creates entry points for hackers. If you’re skeptical about the possibility of your smart home being hacked, be aware that numerous smart homes have already been compromised.
Hackers have found and exploited weaknesses in various smart devices, including smart plugs, DVRs, and baby monitors. They’ve even breached devices like the Samsung SmartThings Hub and home Wi-Fi cameras, leading to unauthorized access and privacy invasions. You might think it’s no big deal if someone accesses your smart devices since they’re just conveniences. However, criminals can gather information from these devices to learn your routines, pinpointing the best time to break in when you’re not home.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon smart home technology altogether. Instead, select your devices carefully and adhere to a few simple security practices to protect them.
