With increasing improvements in technology, our homes – and the appliances that fill them – are becoming smarter and smarter.
Once analogue ovens and fridges are now more interconnected, with TVs, speakers, heating, lighting and home personal assistants all connected to Wi-Fi and run by phone apps.
While this offers greater personal convenience, it opens up homes to the threat of hacks – with every new connection another possible vulnerability.
Such hacks are not common, but in December, South Korean police announced that four people had been arrested for allegedly hacking more than 120,000 home video cameras, showing that it is a possible threat.
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Invest in a ‘padlock’ to guard against ‘silent’ attack
Dr Manny Niri, a cybersecurity expert at Oxford Brookes University, has told Money that hacking a smart home is “unfortunately, quite feasible”.
He added: “Many smart devices are designed to be cheap and easy to use, but not secure by default.
“People often keep factory passwords or do not update device software. Attackers use automated tools to scan the internet for these weak devices.
“In many cases, the hacking is silent, such as viewing a camera without the user noticing. The South Korea case shows how simple security failures can lead to serious privacy harm.”
Ethical hacker Glenn Wilkinson also told Money there can be some “significant risks” in a smart home, but explained the likelihood of hacking a home in terms of how secure a padlock is – encouraging the public to invest in their cybersecurity.
“A cheap lock from the corner shop is probably quite easy to pick,” he said. “A padlock made to lock a vault of gold is likely a lot more secure.”
If hackers can get into one device, they can try to access others on the same home network, Niri explained, adding: “The outcome can include spying through cameras, stealing personal data, or using the home internet connection for criminal activity.”
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Two ways it could happen
However, perhaps reassuringly, hackers aren’t targeting homes individually, camped outside on their laptops in the back of dark vans, but instead operate broad “automated” scans of huge numbers of homes looking for weaknesses they can exploit.
“There are constant background scans hitting home IP addresses every day, as is the reality of the internet,” Wilkinson said.
He outlined two main ways a smart home could be hacked:
If the worst did happen, privacy and personal data are key things that might be at stake from a hack.
But Wilkinson said that there was also the issue of the control of devices. Hackers taking control of devices “could be a nuisance” or “could be more serious”, he said.
Wilkinson also outlined concerns he had about companies building up data on users that they then monetise.
Bigger concerns
Having your home hacked shouldn’t necessarily be at the top of your list of worries, though, according to the experts we spoke to.
Wilkinson pointed out: “It’s like worrying about a piano falling on you in a dark alley. Technically possible. But the more likely threat is someone picking your pocket.”
Your security concerns should be focused elsewhere, on particular devices, they suggested.
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Devices our experts highlighted as particularly at risk included internet-facing cameras and cheap white-label IoT devices (pre-manufactured generic smart products sold without branding, often with poor security settings).
But they also had tips on what you can do to protect yourself:
A spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Centre also told Money that “dependency on smart devices also presents an opportunity for cyber criminals.”
If you’re unsure, you should follow their guidance to keep your homes and information safe.
