How to Protect Your Smart Home From Being Hacked

Only Use the Devices You Need

We all want to have the latest tech goodies, but consider whether you need a particular item before adding it to your smart home system. Video doorbells, smart thermostats, and smart speakers are wonderful tools, but they also present opportunities for skilled hackers to access your personal data.

Beyond security risks in the form of bad actors, you also need to consider the possibility of a company-wide data breach. The video and audio content that your cameras and smart devices pull is uploaded to servers, and The Verge even noted that Amazon holds onto Alexa data even after you delete it from your device. This leaves open the possibility that hackers could retrieve this data down the line.

Increase the Security of Your Home Network

When you first get a new router, it’ll likely either have no security measures in place or will use a generic login system, such as a password of “1234” or “admin.” Hackers know that many users never change their security settings, so these are the first passwords that they try when attempting to hack into your smart home system. An easy way to prevent this from happening is to update your password to something complicated and difficult to guess.

On top of changing your password, you’ll also want to consider changing the name of your network’s SSID. When you keep the SSID at its default name, it makes it easier for the hacker to figure out the model of your router and exploit potential weaknesses. Changing the name makes it that much harder for a hacker to get in.

Use a Password Manager

You’ve increased the security on your home network, but now it’s time to increase the security for each of your devices that access that network. Most smart home systems use a single app to manage multiple devices, and you’ll need to set up an account on these devices. It’s completely understandable that you’d want to use the same password for each device for simplicity, but this is a huge security risk.

Your best bet is to instead use a randomly generated password. Google Chrome offers this functionality natively within its browser, and there are many sites out there that offer the same ability. Once you’ve generated complex passwords, use a password manager to securely keep them all in one place so that you don’t have to remember them or write them down.

Always Use Two-Factor Authentication

Using randomly generated passwords and securing them all in a reputable password manager will do wonders for your smart home system’s security, but it’s still not enough. Two-factor authentication will keep out even the savviest of hackers by requiring anyone trying to login to enter in a code that’s sent either via SMS or through a dedicated authentication app.

Simply put, even if a hacker manages to figure out one of the passwords for one of your devices, they’ll also need a separate code that they won’t be able to receive or guess. Many of the most popular smart home systems and devices allow you to set up two-factor authentication, and this level of security is unrivaled.

Regularly Update Your Firmware

If your smart devices are the hardware that makes up your smart home system, firmware is the software that keeps everything running smoothly and securely. One of the most common ways for a hacker to infiltrate a system is by finding and exploiting weaknesses in firmware code.

Most tech companies regularly update their firmware, ironing out bugs and removing exploit weaknesses in the process. For many devices, updates come automatically and remove security risks without you ever being made aware of them. For other devices, though, you have to manually update the firmware in order to stay current. Be sure to check all of your smart devices to check whether they update their firmware automatically and manually update the ones that don’t.

Replace All Outdated Hardware

You probably don’t have the same laptop or phone that you had a few years ago, but do you still have the same router from a couple of years back? If so, your smart home’s security is at risk. Not only can outdated routers cause connectivity and internet speed issues, but their older firmware and security settings present an attractive opportunity for any would-be hackers.

All of the latest routers run off of Wi-Fi 6. While you don’t necessarily need a router that just came out yesterday, it pays to stay up to date. Not only will newer routers offer greater security, but your devices themselves will gradually update to meet these new standards as well.

Divide Up Your Home Network

The majority of routers offer you the option to put your smart home devices on one network (usually a guest network), while your more sensitive devices can go on your main network. Not only does this give you more bandwidth to help with streaming and heavy-duty downloading, but it will also help keep your sensitive data safe.

Chances are good that a potential hacker doesn’t care very much about the data that you have stored in your smart fridge. With that said, they might have an easier time hacking into your refrigerator than your laptop. If both devices happen to be on the same network, the hacker will then have an open door into your most sensitive data. Keeping devices on separate networks eliminates this possibility entirely.

Conclusion

Smart home technology provides a great deal of convenience to many of our lives, but it also brings with it the potential for hackers to gain access to sensitive information and personal data. While it can be surprisingly easy for a skilled hacker to gain access to your home system and wreak havoc with your data, it’s also very simple to keep them out entirely. By following these seven simple steps, you’ll be able to keep your smart home system safe and secure!

Sources

• https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/3/20681423/amazon-alexa-echo-chris-coons-data-transcripts-recording-privacy