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Guest post from Ralph Goodman, over at the Lock Blog. Thanks Ralph!
The smart home has increased in popularity over the past couple of years, and it has helped set the standard for what people will expect out of their homes in years to come. Lightning fast connectivity and integration with several different devices was once only fathomable in a sci-fi novel. Now, science fiction has been brought to life, and the future is within everyone’s grasp. Even though this presents a whole new realm of possibilities, it also presents homeowners with vulnerabilities that they have never faced before.
Smart homes are generally powered by the Internet of Things (IOT) which grants some form of network connectivity to a plethora of devices. This allows your smart locks to communicate with your automated lights, and it allows your lights to communicate with your cooling system, and on and on. With the Internet of Things, the possibilities are nearly limitless. This amount of connectivity also opens up the smart home to the potential dangers of cyber threats and cyber attacks, which many homeowners are not accustomed to. This is the reason why many smart homeowners need to pay increased attention to the state of their physical security. This is one of the best ways for them to mitigate cyber threats threatening their smart home. Let’s take a look at some of the ways physical security measures can help mitigate cyber threats within the smart home.
Limits Unauthorized Access
Increased physical security measures will make it much harder for cybercriminals to gain access to your home. Many people are under the impression that cyber threats can only be executed from remote locations by people skilled in clandestine operations. However, there are times where physical access is the one thing stopping people from committing a cyber attack. Therefore it is immensely important that there are adequate physical security measures in place to prevent anyone from gaining access to your smart home devices. These devices range from network hubs to even home monitoring systems.
If someone is able to gain access to one of these devices, they will most likely be able to exploit them and gain access to your smart home network. Homeowners who convert to smart homes typically tend to pay less attention to the basic security measures already in place because they are so drawn to the new and improved things that their home can do. Homeowners should make sure that their physical security measures adequately keep unauthorized individuals out of their home.
Prevents Data Compromises
Physical security measures also help reduce the chances of data being compromised within the home. The truth is that most homeowners do not run their homes the way companies run offices, which means that they do not necessarily practice proper password management or properly store their critical data. It is crucial for homeowners to make sure that their physical security is actively preventing data compromises.
This can be done in a number of different ways,including making your devices inaccessible and also storing information about your devices in a secured area within your home. There are some homeowners who leave the passwords to their network on post-it notes around their homes, because they believe they are impervious to cyber attacks. However, all a cyber criminal needs is one minor slip up from a homeowner, and they will take advantage of it.
Secures Valuable Equipment
Hacking into devices or bypassing their physical security protocols are not the only ways that people can launch cyber attacks on your home. In some cases, a much more brash technique can be employed, which involves damaging your equipment. Unfortunately, not all smart home devices are not built to stand up to brute force, so it is important that homeowners fortify their devices. This can be done by housing your devices in security cases, which makes it harder for any unauthorized person to get a hold of. Please note that this all depends on the size and functionality of the device.
In addition to using security cases, homeowners can also fortify the existing hardware around their smart devices. For instance, you can increase the strength of your smart lock by fortifying other elements of the locking mechanism, and the door as well, to give it an overall security boost. If you are unsure about how to accomplish this, make sure you consult with a residential locksmith.
Conclusion
Physical security is a critical component of smart home security and it should never be overlooked. Its role has changed in small ways due to the addition of new gadgets and new possibilities, but that does not make it any less important. If there are no effective security measures in place, then everything that is done from the software standpoint will be rendered ineffective.
Homeowners have to make sure that they are practicing effective physical security methods in order to provide suitable support to every aspect of their smart home. However, homeowners should not take this to mean that increased physical security is the only way to mitigate cyber threats. They can also employ various network security solutions, such as high-security firewalls and threat monitoring.