Taking a hard look at the security of household IoT devices — yes, even the smart vacuum
My partner loves smart devices, a.k.a. the Internet of Things, a.k.a. IoT. When we first moved in together, it actually made me laugh how excited he’d get about each new gadget. But it also made me kind of uncomfortable, because I had a vague idea that maybe privacy and security weren’t so great with all of these things. Isn’t Google Home kind of…freaky?
But when I realized that this was basically his version of nesting, I put my concerns aside and decided to just feel good about the fact that he wanted to build a comfortable home with me. I mean, I buy throw pillows and comfy blankets; he buys IoT devices.
Fast forward a few years and I’m the lead writer at Avast. And in my first month, I started looking around and thinking: How secure are these devices, actually? Am I a total hypocrite if I’m on here preaching to everyone about staying safe and caring about privacy when I don’t even really know what’s in my own home?
The short answer? Yes. I am a hypocrite. And so, to rectify that fact, I decided to do a full audit of the IoT devices in my home. (My partner’s response: “Does that mean you’re going to touch everything? Ugh.”)
What’s here? What are the inherent security risks? How might these devices be collecting data and compromising my privacy? And how can I reduce the harm of those thin ..
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