In an article from February of this year, the New York Times noted several steps to take in making sure your household smart devices remain secure from the threat of being hacked. The article explains that overall, online attacks on home devices are still relatively uncommon. But that the market for household smart devices is growing very rapidly, which means more and more hackers will begin to target said devices. All it takes is for a hacker to gain access to just one of these smart devices and that basically compromises the security of all the wi-fi devices in that home. 10% of American consumers have reported being hacked via a household device in a recent study done by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. Those who were victims reported anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 in losses from the incident.
As stated in a previous blog post from last month, one must keep in mind that all these great and convenient technological advancements can also bring with them a considerable amount of online security vulnerabilities. But the good news is that there are some fairly simple steps that can be taken to greatly reduce those threats. For example, setting up 2 separate wi-fi networks, one for your tablet(s) and computer(s), and the other for all the other household smart devices. This can help isolate any security breaches and also helps restrict the amount of devices exposed to the hack. Another great example is just to take the time to research the reviews and product info for the different brands of smart devices out there. A lot of the manufacturers are really starting to make better security improvements for their products.
These were just a couple of examples of improving your home cyber security. For the full in-depth article, please check out: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/technology/personaltech/stop-hijacking-home-devices.html?mcubz=1&_r=0
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