Would you like a little quiz? The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) lets you test your knowledge about smart home and security in 6 small questions.

Do you already own a Smart TV? Can you check and control your heating thermostats or roller shutters on the go using your smartphone? Then your house is already a so-called smart home in which household and multimedia devices interact and can be controlled centrally and remotely. A smart home can make everyday life easier and more efficient.

But poorly secured devices and networks offer Internet attackers many opportunities to spy on information or misuse the devices for other criminal purposes. Therefore, some basic safety precautions should be taken when using the devices. Do you already know very well what is important when it comes to using smart home devices safely? Then our six quiz questions will definitely not be a problem for you. Good luck!

Click here for the quiz!

The tips from the BSI:

As with all devices that are connected to the Internet, the availability and installation of software and security updates is important so that your smart home applications are always up to date and current security gaps are closed. Updates and patches from the manufacturer should be provided over a longer period of time. If possible, enable automatic updates and regularly check whether the device software is up to date.

A frequently used gateway for attackers are devices connected to the Internet that do not have password protection or are only protected with preset standard passwords. To ensure that your smart household appliances do not become an easy target for attackers, it is advisable to protect them, just like your PC, notebook or smartphone, with an individual password. www.bsi-fuer-buerger.de/Passwords also offers information on secure passwords .

Although you can set up a local firewall on your computer, this will not protect your connected home from attacks from the Internet. That's why you should always activate a central firewall on your router. There you can determine which smart devices are allowed to connect to the Internet and which are not.

It's tempting to log into public Wi-Fi networks, after all they're free and sometimes a little more stable than your own mobile internet. However, in free WLANs, data is transmitted unencrypted in the vast majority of cases. Everything you send and receive can then easily be intercepted and read. You should avoid using public WiFi networks, especially if you are checking sensitive and confidential data such as your booking information.

Many home routers offer the option of setting up a separate WLAN in which only your household devices can be integrated, as they do not need to access your personal data to function. If your router supports this feature, instructions will be provided in the user manual. The separate network for your household appliances is then logically separated from your home network. This is a simple way to protect your computers and your personal data from attacks via other devices with an online connection.

In order to provide some services, the collection of personal user data is necessary. However, it is important to find out what this data is used for and how it is stored before purchasing. Even with large, well-known manufacturers, you should always find out how they handle such sensitive data before purchasing.


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