Security Resilience in the Home

Security Resilience in the Home

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging concept where interconnected devices and services collect, exchange and process data in order to adapt dynamically to a context.

In the context of “Smart Home Environments” both IoT and traditional devices and services integrate in a home to enhance the quality of life of citizens. This allows improvements in several domains such as energy efficiency, health monitoring…

New Smart Home devices and services appear at a fast pace, from various manufacturers which may have a limited experience of cyber security. Yet, it is often necessary to integrate these devices in the “Home Area Network” in order to provide connectivity for data exchange and to perform their operations.

Due to these interdependencies, numerous cyber threats appear with possible consequences on the life, health and safety of the inhabitants. Hence, it becomes important for manufacturers, solution vendors, developers, and end-users to understand how to secure devices and services. In Smart Home environments, the security can be difficult to implement within a heterogeneous ecosystem which integrates several types of devices and services, which usually have limited security due to their weak capacities (CPU, battery…). Moreover the service they provide usually relies on remote infrastructures for cloud storage, analytics or even remote access to the devices.

Due to their interconnected nature, Smart Home devices are subject to a number of security threats either from remote attackers or from inside the Home Area Network (HAN). Moreover, these threats have an impact not only on a user’s data but also on his/her health and safety: this changes the accepted idea that the home is usually a safe place to live in.

If you would like more advice on how to implement security measure around your IoT devices in your home, please feel free to contact us.