Smart homes have had a wide integration in the past few years. Smart home appliances have become more widely available, accessible, and affordable, with companies releasing products in different price ranges.
Smart homes have given families and single individuals living alone a more convenient and easy way of living and doing simple chores.
From televisions, door bells, speakers, refrigerators, ovens, and many more, having smart devices that interconnect provides ease. However, having a home with too many smart devices also poses threats to security.
The majority of people who use smart homes aren't getting hacked, which means that even though hearing stories about hacks and privacy breaches can be unsettling, they are still relatively uncommon. Nevertheless, it is essential to exercise caution when using any device that is connected to the Internet.
There is no reason to completely forego the advantages that come with having smart home devices. The key is to be aware of potential dangers and make effective use of the protections that are at your disposal.
Here are some of the steps that you can take to protect your smart home from hackers.
How to Protect Your Smart Home from Hackers
Protect Your Wi-Fi Network
First, it is highly recommended for users to protect their wireless network. Most households, when they receive their Wi-Fi network, do not bother to change the default password to a stronger password.
Using the default password that came with your modem allows you to expose your data in the wild. This also exposes all the devices connected to one another.
As recommended by Wirecutter, you can add another layer of protection to your smart home by using a guest network, which is a common option found in many popular routers, to separate your smart home devices from your personal computers and smartphones.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Strong passwords are a good start, but you can take things even further. You can take security one step further by enabling two-factor authentication on the software services that support it.
The accounts that you use to sign up to your chosen network will require a password, and you can assure security by having two-factor authentication. Aside from accessing your account through the use of only a password, a unique set of codes or numbers will be sent to you through email or through your phone for an added layer of security.
So in order to access your account, you will need to enter your correct password and the code sent to you by two-factor authentication.
Use Distinctive Passwords
Even if you have a unique password for your network, it is possible that this will not be enough to keep your devices secure. You should give some thought to assigning unique passwords to each of your devices, each of which should be different and should be unique to that particular product.
It is highly encouraged that when setting up a password, you not use letters and numbers that are significant to your birthday or any of your personal information. In addition, it is also highly recommended for you to change these passwords on a regular basis, at the very least several times a year.
Purchase from Reliable Brands
Another piece of advice in protecting your smart home is to start from the very beginning step, which is to purchase your smart home devices. It is wisest to purchase smart devices manufactured by well-known brands. These businesses have a reputation to uphold and the resources necessary to back it up. This will help you safeguard your home from default errors, wiring accidents, or malicious actors. Having a well-trusted brand that caters to its consumers will also save you a headache in the long run.
In addition, it goes without saying that prior to making any kind of purchase, it would be helpful to read some reviews from reputable sources.
Firmware Updating
According to PCMag, "Firmware is the low-level software that powers your router and other Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets." Nowadays, numerous hacking incidents have been all over the internet. Malicious threat actors are everywhere, always looking for a vulnerability to exploit in the systems of large tech companies.
With that, when an update is released, it is highly recommended for you to update your firmware with the latest security patches and new features as they become available.
There are apps and software out there that automatically update themselves with the latest firmware.
However, there are still a lot of devices out there that require you to actively tap or click the "update" button or download the update in order to get the most recent features and security patches.
Do not disregard these updates; instead, either configure your device to update itself automatically or set a reminder on your device to check for updates on a regular basis. As PC Mag stated, running an older version of the firmware could make your device susceptible to attack from hackers who are looking to take advantage of vulnerabilities that have not been patched.
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