Are Smart Appliances a Dumb Idea?

 By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Smart devices have been touted as being a boon to consumers.  Smart refrigerators cannot only tell you when you're running low on milk, they can help you place your order for more.  Smart thermostats allow you to change the temperature of your home from nearly anywhere on the planet.  Smart locks will unlock your door without having to fumble for your keys.  What's not to like?  Well, it turns out that there's a hidden dark cloud in the smart silver lining.  What many security consultants now say is that most smart devices are vulnerable to hacking that can compromise your home, your data, and more.  Before you purchase a smart device, here are some things you need to consider.

Can a smart thermostat or smart oven burn you up? They can if a hacker gains control of either device.  Smart thermostats, ovens, and microwave ovens offer the convenience of being able to control them remotely.  However, that same convenience can be turned against their owners if a hacker cracks their security.  Then the same remote control could be used to turn the temperature up to flame broil whether you're away or asleep.

It'll be a cold day in hell before I buy a smart fridge.  That's because I learned that not only can hackers monkey with the refrigerator settings, once such a device is compromised, a bad actor can access other devices attached to many home networks.  Think I'm being paranoid?  In 2019, a teenage girl whose mom confiscated all her electronic devices used their smart-fridge to send out a tweet.  In 2014, smart fridges were used by hackers to conduct a massive spam attack.

How can a smart camera be used to eliminate your security? It's been common knowledge that smart cameras, doorbell cams and nannycams have been vulnerable to hacking.  In 2020 & 2021, hacking collectives not only bragged that they had hacked hundreds of thousands of home security cameras, they even created websites that allowed the public to view the activities of the victims in real time.  In 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against Amazon when Ring doorbell cameras were hacked, allowing bad actors to use the devices to harass their owners.  According to a Dec. 23, 2021 blog by the Guardian, One Ring user says he was asked through his camera as he watched TV one night, “What are you watching?” Another alleges his children were addressed by an unknown hacker through the device, who commented on their basketball play and encouraged them to approach the camera.

Image courtesy Pixabay

Can a smart door let in the very thieves you're trying to keep out?  While having the ability to remotely lock and unlock your front doors can be helpful, that doesn't make them as secure as an old-fashioned lock.  If a smart lock's security is breached, gaining entry by someone looking to make off with your belongings is going to be as easy as point and click.  If you're considering using smart locks, the smart thing to do would be to add additional cyber security measures like a VPN and multi-factor authentication to your home network.

Can the boob tube be turned into a peeping Tom version of YouTube? Like it or not, smart TVs are built at the factory to spy on you.  This can include everything from reporting your viewing habits, to enabling a third party to listen in and possibly watch you. That's right, if you're smart TV comes equipped with a camera, this can be used to turn your life into a real life Truman Show. The security implications of smart TV eavesdropping became so egregious that the FBI issued a warning about the risks they imposed in 2019.  Among their recommendations to owners of smart TVs is that they check with the manufacturer to determine the features their TV has and how to turn them on and off.  They also recommend you determine what kind of data your set is programmed to gather and how it's collected, stored, and distributed.  Last but not least, if you can't discover how to turn off the set's built-in camera, the feds recommend putting a piece of black electrical tape over the lens to ensure privacy.

Do smart vacuum cleaners sweep away your sense of security along with the dust? Believe it or not, smart vacuums create and can transmit virtual maps of your home.  They also collect other metadata including frequency of use and cleaning schedules.  Some smart vacs even come equipped with cameras that can snap pictures while they clean.  Needless to say, if one of these devices is hacked, it can be used to provide a wealth of information to anyone looking to case your home.  

How much data does a typical smart device collect?  According to Consumer Reports, the average smart appliance sends between 3.4 to 19 MB of information back to its manufacturer every week.  That's the  equivalent of 24,000-135,000 text messages if the device is only used once per day. That doesn't include the smart device's ability to collect information like location, phone number, date of birth, and other data that can be scraped from its owners smartphone that houses the app used to remotely control it.

Image courtesy Pixabay

How long will it be before smart appliances are the norm?  In 2019, only 17% of appliances were considered smart.  That number jumped to 38% in 2022, according to Consumer Reports.  When it comes to TVs, not only is it getting harder to find a dumb TV, manufacturers who offer non-smart TVs charge an average of $150 more than they do for their smart TVs.  Why's that?  Because they want to recoup the money they'd make by selling your data to third parties.  If you think that's scary, consider this: In January 2021, GE reportedly had around 1 million smart devices in American homes.  By 2023, that number has reportedly jumped to more than 30 million.

Can you protect your privacy if you own a smart device? That depends on how you define your privacy and how much time you'd care to spend dealing with the issue.  While European countries have enacted laws that prevent US companies from strip mining personal data at will, if you're a US citizen, the onus is on you to wrestle control back from big business interests.  While it's fairly straightforward to keep data miners out of your computer, tablet, and smartphone by disabling cookies, using ad blockers, and adding security software, there's no simple fix with securing smart devices .  To keep eavesdroppers at bay, you'll need to disable any functions not mission critical to the device.  It's especially important to disable the collection and automatic reporting of data to a third party, as well as changing default passwords. Where available, you should enable multi-factor authentication to further restrict third parties from accessing the device. Last but not least, I'd recommend using a virtual private network and network monitor software so you can make certain that no unauthorized entities are accessing any of your connected devices.

What can you do to keep your smart device from being hacked?  The more smart devices you own, the better your chance of getting hacked.  That's because not all manufacturers take the time to install robust security on their devices.  As I pointed out earlier, all a hacker needs to do is gain access to one of your devices and they'll be able to access other devices on your network.  While you can't fix a badly designed smart device, what you can do is visit the manufacturer's website to check for security patches that you can download manually.  You can also have an IT expert segment your home network.  This will prevent hackers who compromise one of your smart devices from accessing any other networked device. It also wouldn't hurt to teach everyone who uses your home network the do's and don'ts of safe web surfing.  After all, any chain is only as strong as its weakest link and hackers are particularly crafty at getting their victims to click on links that deliver malware in seconds flat.

Catherine Powell is the owner of A Plus All Florida, Insurance in Orange Park, Florida.  To find out more about saving money on all your insurance needs, check out her website at http://aplusallfloridainsuranceinc.com