Security and Smart Home Devices How Safe Is Your Home

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Security and Smart Home Devices How Safe Is
Your Home?

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is here and many
people are quickly outfitting their homes with a
wide range of smart devices. While these devices
aim to make our lives more enjoyable and fun,

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as well as help manage household expenses, like
controlling energy costs, they can also be the
point of an intrusion from a would-be hacker, or
worse, potential burglar.

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Many smart home device manufacturers were quick
to get their products to market, but overlooked
potential security risks once connected to a home
network. Security has not been a top priority,
but rather what features can be crammed into the
device to make it appealing for consumers.

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What many people do not realize is if one device
is hacked within the home, it could easily serve
as a hub, or gateway for the hacker to gain
access to all of the homes connected smart
devices,

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including smartphones, tablets, and computers. In
addition, the security of some smart home devices
might seem irrelevant, but lets take a look at a
few of these and discuss how they could pose
risks for you and your family.

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Thermostats With hydro bills surging, many
people are installing smart thermostats in their
home to help monitor and manage energy usage.

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It is easy to connect to a thermostat using an
app from your smartphone. Unfortunately, it is
easy to connect to smart thermostats within homes
and hack into them using the app.

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Hacking into a homes thermostat to adjust the
temperature settings might seem more like a
childish prank. But wait, did you know high end
thermostats collect and gather a wide array of
data on all occupants of the home?

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These thermostats record when people are home,
when they home is empty, and when they are
sleeping and awake. Imagine if a burglar hacked
into the thermostat and knew when the best time
was to break into the home.

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Furthermore, an experienced hacker could also
co-op other connected devices, like your homes
security system and shut it off!

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Home Security Systems From Wi-Fi security
cameras to wireless automated door locks, these
smart devices have serious security flaws.

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Hackers are easily connecting to these devices
and have been able to obtain camera footage and
pin codes to unlock doors! They can even hack
into connected automated garage door openers

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Lighting Again, hacking into your homes smart
lighting might seem childish and not a serious
security threat

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Other than being concerned about excessive energy
bills, the lack of security within the devices
can provide easy access to your homes entire
network of smart devices.

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The best way to protect yourself is to find out
what type of security features are offered in IoT
devices, including if the device can be password
protected. Also, remember to change the default
password on the device, and use different
passwords for each connected device on your home
network.

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For businesses installing similar IoT devices, do
not hesitate to contact Technical Action Group at
[phone] for outsourced IT support in
Toronto and the GTA to ensure your devices have
been configured correctly and securely. Source-
https//www.technicalactiongroup.ca/security-and
-smart-home-devices-how-safe-is-your-home/

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