Home automation is increasingly present in our daily lives. We have smart devices of all kinds, such as light bulbs, plugs, sensors… A widely used option is to have a smart thermostat, which can even help save a lot of energy. Now, can it become a danger to the security? In general, any device you have at home could have certain risks if you don’t take some key measures. We are going to talk to you about this specific case.
What we are looking for is for you to know exactly what the risks of having a smart thermostat at home, in terms of security. This way, you can take measures to avoid attacks and protect your personal information and data and not have problems ensuring that your devices always work well.
Smart Thermostat Safety
You should know that a smart thermostat is not one of the devices that will collect the most data. It is true that they are widely used and offer more and more options, but they do not store as much information as other devices do. However, it will collect certain data for its operation.
For example, a smart thermostat could Store information of temperature, humidity settings or air quality, to respond in real time to what you need. For this, it will collect data from the readings it performs. Additionally, you can obtain information about the user, such as location, Wi-Fi network, or create a usage profile.
But it should be mentioned that some thermostats may be linked to an online account. In that account, we are going to provide more complete personal data. If someone had access to that information, then it could really compromise privacy. They could use it for what is known as a lateral movement attack and even affect other devices.
Therefore, we can say that smart thermostats can pose a safety hazard, although nowhere near as much as other devices. You should always take certain measures to protect yourself and avoid problems.
Protect your device
What can you do to protect your smart thermostat? Basically, you should do the same thing you would do with any other device. The first thing is to make sure you have everything well protected with passwords. The more complex the key, the better. This way, you will avoid brute force attacks that could break your security.
It is also advisable to have the latest versions at all times. If there are vulnerabilities, an attacker could exploit them to access the device and steal data. We recommend that you install the latest version available for the model you use. This will help increase protection. If you can, turn on automatic updates.
On the other hand, it is important that you have your properly protected router. You should check that there are no strange devices, that you do not have a weak Wi-Fi password, etc. All of this will also help protect other devices that you connect, such as the smart thermostat.
As you can see, they could use the smart thermostat to steal certain personal data or data from your network. However, it is not something that will be common and it is not a widely used option by hackers. You can always improve security. Protecting IoT devices is key.
