PCMagazine poses the intriguing question, “What if all the devices in your life could connect to the Internet? Not just computers and smartphones, but everything: clocks, speakers, lights, doors, cameras, windows, window blinds, hot water heaters, appliances, cooking utensils, you name it.
And what if those devices could all communicate, send you information, and take your commands? It's not science fiction; it's the Internet of Things (IoT), and it's a key component of home automation and smart homes.”
This is awesome, right? Well… yes and no. Consider the following:
As consumers add more and more IoT devices to their homes (a 2015 Gartner study estimates that approximately 5.5 million IoT devices are added to homes around the world every day), experts anticipate the number of attacks also to increase. In fact, in October 2016, hackers took over 100,000 IoT devices and used them to block traffic to well-known websites, including Twitter and Netflix.
This doesn’t mean that you need to forego the latest IoT device that becomes available; it means that you need to be smarter than ever about protecting yourself from Cyber Risk in the home.
To be precise, the actual IoT devices themselves do not contain your personal identity information - so they are not the security risk directly. The risk is that once they are working, they are often “forgotten” and rarely updated or monitored, if at all. If a hacker should find a way to compromise them, they could be used as a pathway to infiltrate your home. Once inside, a hacker could eavesdrop on your network for any unprotected information passing within it or possibly gain access to other devices that do contain your personal information such as computers, smart phones, and tablet devices.
Even if you take all the responsible preventative meaures, cyber attacks can sometimes occur. Here are two things you can do to lessen the impact:
The fact is that there are cyber criminals out there ready to steal your information and wreak havoc. Although nothing is guaranteed to protect you from these criminals, following these measures will make it harder for those criminals to hack into your IoT devices.
For related information on cyber insurance for your business read our blog post: Combat Data Breaches with Cyber Liability Insurance.
Are you sure your homeowner's policy offers the right amount of protection at a good price? Do you need cyber insurance for your business?
Contact American Insuring Group online or give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 for a free and thorough homeowner's insurance review. You'll be glad you did!