Smart home devices could let hackers into your home, expose personal details: experts warn

HAVING a smart fridge can make life easier ... but it could also leave your home vulnerable to security threats, experts have warned.

THE biggest risk of theft in future might not be leaving your front door open but having it unlocked remotely by hackers.

Smart home products, from internet-connected fridges to robot vacuum cleaners, came under fire at the world’s biggest mobile phone show in Barcelona this week, as cybersecurity experts warned most new smart devices traded much-needed security for convenience, and were open to attack.

The devices could be used to expose everything from private conversations to video of children as they slept near baby monitors, they warned, and could even direct smart appliances to mine cryptocurrency.

Internet-connected fridges came under fire at the world’s biggest mobile phone show in Barcelona this week. Picture: Supplied

The news comes after almost one million LG smart devices, from internet-connected dishwashers and fridges to washing machines and air conditioners, were found to be vulnerable to attack.

International data security firm Trend Micro revealed it detected 8.5 million attempts to hack smart home products last year.

While the LG ThinQ vulnerability has since been patched, Avast security researcher Martin Hron said the discovery was not a one-off problem as many smart home products failed to include the same basic security as computers, modems, or smartphones.

“Most of these devices are poorly protected,” Mr Hron said.

Many don’t understand the potential security dangers of so-called ‘smart homes’.

“Security on smart devices should be opt-out rather than opt-in. There is a trade-off between ease of use and security, and the manufacturers are just going for convenience.”

Mr Hron said many smart appliance users also underestimated the potential risk of connecting common household devices to the internet, and failed to change default passwords and settings.

As a result, many of these vulnerable devices could be found and targeted by hackers, with a search engine already available to find more than 500 million exposed smart devices.

McAfee Asia Pacific consumer vice-president David Freer said overlooking smart home security could have serious consequences, particularly as more microphones, cameras, and locks were installed in homes, some of them inside security cameras or smart speakers.

Hackers could use vulnerable devices to create taunt victims or even as a form of ransomware, he said.

“You could have a hacker send you a message saying, ‘I’ve just unlocked all your doors and I’m about to let everyone on your social media accounts know’,” Mr Freer said.

“Imagine if all your lights were turned on in the middle of the night. It sounds annoying but you might pay (a ransom) to stop it.

“The average person is only just starting to get the risks involved. Most people don’t understand what they can really do with smart devices.”

Mr Freer said McAfee was “in talks” with Australian internet service providers to add Smart Home Platform security software to wi-fi routers to lock down communication from smart devices.

Avast also unveiled its Smart Home Security Hub at Mobile World Congress that will monitor traffic from smart devices and detect unusual behaviour.

Mr Hron said the product would also detect other unusual activity, such as “cryptojacking” in which hackers took over smart home products to mine cryptocurrency.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Samsung.