Security Gaps Caused By Smart Household Appliances

In order to protect company computers in the home office, new measures must be taken to counter the danger posed by smart devices in the home network. As a result, smart devices must be continuously checked for security gaps and possible gateways for hackers to ensure security in the home office.

What Dangers Arise From Smart Devices In The Home Office?

More and more households are using smart devices, such as language assistants, smart vacuum cleaners, media systems or lighting controls. Almost all devices have one thing in common, they are connected to the home WiFi network. This is where the danger arises, because hackers can use these same smart devices to gain access to a household’s WiFi network. Once this has happened, the computers in the WLAN can easily be attacked and infected. This makes it possible for hackers to specifically attack company computers in the home office. If a computer is infected, there are hardly any security mechanisms that prevent access to the company network. Even a VPN access to the company network often does not provide sufficient protection.

How Big Is The Danger?

The IoT Security Report 2022 by the company IoT Inspector, for which 260 companies from the IT industry were surveyed, shows that more than half of the companies surveyed see smart devices as a major risk of attacks on corporate networks. In addition, 71% of companies believe that traditional security mechanisms are no longer sufficient to counter risks posed by smart devices.

Conclusion

In order to protect company computers in the home office, new measures must be taken to counter the danger posed by smart devices in the home network. As a result, smart devices must be continuously checked for security gaps and possible gateways for hackers to ensure security in the home office.