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The IoT Boom and The Implications on Our Home Networks

Over the past year you have probably seen ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) popping up all over the
place, but what does this vague term refer to, and how does it impact you?

You may not know it, but you are surrounded by IoT – you use it for work, for entertainment, and
some of our homes are even run by it. Actually, the majority of us are very dependent on IoT
and don’t even realize it.

IoT is the umbrella term for the increasing number of smart devices and software that connect
with each other via the Internet. Smart phones, tablets, watches, TVs – that’s already a lot of
things, and the list is rapidly growing. It is predicted “by that 2050 there will be 50 billion smart
devices connected around the world” (Gartner).

The future of your home is smarter but is it really safer?

This growth in smart devices means great things for our homes. Over the past few years we’ve
seen the emergence of many groundbreaking home technologies, such as smart thermometers,
smart locks, lighting, emotive devices and security cameras. With this connectivity we are
making advances towards future homes that are intuitive to our needs, as well as cost-effective,
greener and physically safer.

However, this invasion of smart devices into our personal lives doesn’t come without its
implications. As your home network grows, so does the strain on it and its security.

The growing problem of IoT Security in the Home

Our smart devices can do incredible things so understandably the majority of us consumers are
predominately interested in their exciting functions. Unfortunately, a lot of manufactures are
aware of this. The need to lower prices results in the less eye-catching features being ignored or
dropped entirely – security is usually one of the fatalities of this cost-cutting.

Without proper security every device you own can act as an access point for hackers to your
network, so the more devices on your network the more vulnerable it becomes. A hacker only
needs one weak entry point and they are in. From here they have free range of your private
information.

The lack of built in security features, coupled with the rapid growth of cyber-attacks on home
networks, means we will are likely to see a trend in consumers taking a pro-active interest in
network security and device scanning tools. As we move further into the unknown homeowners
will want the peace of mind gained by knowing who is on their network, where they are
vulnerable and even the ability to block unwanted intruders. Some products are already popping
up, like Fingbox , F-Secure and Luma, that are focusing on providing greater network security

39 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine December 2016 Edition
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