Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
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These days it is becoming increasingly common to find smartphones controlling many home functions, including security systems and your TV. Even your thermostat can ‘learn’ your preferences on heating and cooling and can adjust the temperature according to the weather.
It's possible for some homes to be unlocked with a fingerprint, and according to the article in aol.com, homes may someday be so intelligent that your bed will send a message to your coffee maker so you’ll get up to freshly brewed coffee. In the meantime, most of us still live in far more conventional homes that require active human intervention. This may sound old-fashioned, but it is possible this may be preferable a there are concerns hackers could try to grab control of home functions.
Unfortunately this is perfectly possible and has already happened in a couple of instances where a hacker gained control of a baby monitor, while another managed to access a web cam. Apparently a company sending data protection services recently discovered a hack that was able to utilize more than three quarters of a million e-mail communications originating from more than 100,000 consumer electronics including TVs, home networking routers and even the fridge. What this means is that hackers could have the potential to use the software that opens your garage to send malicious e-mails. Even though this hasn't yet happened, the potential is definitely there. A hacker could potentially turn off your alarm before burglarizing your home, while other times their hack may be a nuisance, such as causing a smart toilet to continually flush. The real problem is that anyone accessing these devices can then begin listening in on your network where they may be able to find usernames and passwords and financial information.
Apparently many hackers aren't after financial gain but simply want the bragging rights of being able to do something awkward or inconvenient. So what can you do if you're considering upgrading your home with this type of technology? Experts advise the best way forward is to hire a professional and to make sure your software is continually updated. If a device is linked to a smart phone, then it's worth setting up a system that locks it so it is inaccessible, although most hackers would be able to get around a pin number in just a few minutes at most. Alternatively you could wait until smart home technology becomes a little less risky as it’s highly likely these problems will eventually be sorted out.
