Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2020 62 D id you ever watch a Terminator movie and suddenly find yourself feeling anxious about the smart devices in your home? Nowadays, smart home cameras, appliances, baby monitors, locks and even light bulbs surround us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not paranoid, but it can get your attention when your neighbor's Ring Camera is hacked. It can feel like Skynet is poised to attack, but no worries, I've done the research and I have the information you need to keep your smart devices safe from hackers who have no business watching you make your morning coffee. Smart devices have a startlingly scrawny amount of security built-in. Our use of smart home devices is expected to grow an estimated 300% or more by 2023. Is anyone making sure these devices are protected and securely backed up to keep our homes and our information safe? The answer, unfortunately, is "No." Most smart home device manufacturers simply aren't making security a top priority. Most smart appliances and devices lack password protection or mechanisms for software updates and all-around protection – making them extremely vulnerable to hackers and malware. We call these small, unsecured devices IoT, or "Internet of Things." IoT devices are connected to your home network through your router. So their security depends 100% on the security of your router and your home internet. How can we keep our devices safe, when the devices themselves don't have the built-in ability to deter hackers and malware? If your router is secure, then anything connected to it, including your smart devices, should be secure as well. Securing your router can be as simple as setting a hefty password and keeping your software up to date. You should consider the router password as important as your banking password. Passwords should be long and complicated, filled with numbers and symbols that don't include words like "password" or your dog's name. And, for goodness' sake, please don't make your password 12345! Another excellent way to keep your devices secure is to set up guest networks. You can even set up one guest network exclusively for your smart devices. This way, if you get hacked, the hackers would only have access to your smart devices, but not your precious home or work computer. You can even set up a separate guest network for visiting guests. I cannot over-emphasize how helpful this is. You may believe you're keeping your network secure, but when your 16-year-old nephew visits, you shouldn't have to worry about what he could be viewing that would allow your entire home system to be hacked. It's a scary feeling to consider that some hacker in Russia may be watching your every move or has the ability to turn on your smart washer from thousands of miles away. Honestly, there is no need to be worried about your personal privacy. Instead, be worried about the privacy of your data. In cases where hackers have infiltrated, most often they are only interested in using your devices to mine data. Yes, there have been instances of hackers messing with thermostats or baby monitors, but these individuals most often want to use your data for exploitation purposes or to link a large group of devices for dark web or cybercrime activity. Don't give these hackers access to your business computer and possibly open yourself up to a ransomware attack by setting weak passwords on your devices. Arm your smart devices with secure passwords on a secure network and keep your data safe! Loren Husk is Chief Operating Officer of Cody's Appliance Repair in Eagle, Idaho. A graduate of the University of Idaho with a degree in psychology with an emphasis in biology, Loren is a travel, food, and wine enthusiast. S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T RO SMART HOME DEVICES– AND CYBER SECURITY

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