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Everything seems like it is connected to the Internet, just about, including TVs, home thermostats, sprinkler controls, door locks, egg trays (yes, there’s an app for that), tooth brushes (cray cray), and more.
A study by HP shows that 70 percent of devices have vulnerabilities. Researchers have revealed that most of the devices in their study, plus the devices’ mobile and cloud applications, had a welcome mat for hackers.
Most of these devices had weak passwords (like qwerty) or weakly protected credentials (unencrypted): beacons for hackers. Seventy percent of the devices lacked encryption. Sixty percent had insecure software updates.
The Open Web Application Security Project notes that vulnerabilities include poor physical security of devices. Gartner, an industry analysis firm, predicts that over 26 billion items, by 2020, will be connected to the Internet. And this includes all sorts of stuff in your home.
All these “smart” devices are a little too dumb and need even smarter protection. The more connected you and all the things in your home are, the more vulnerable you truly are.
Just think of how much of your personal information gets all over cyberspace when you’re so connected, including where your person is at any moment and medical details. Its these “peripheral” devices that connect to your wired or wireless network that in some way connect to your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone that criminals are after. Once they hack, say your thermostat, that may give them a backdoor to your data.
Device makers are not bound by any policies to regulate safety/security, making the instruments highly prone to cyber criminals. Worse, most people don’t know how to spot attacks or reverse the damage.
So how do you create a “smarthome”?
Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.