Insecure smart home systems

Smart Home are "much advertised and often desired," as Stiftung Warentest recently wrote, referring to its Test result of smart security systems: "Weak against burglars. None of the systems tested performed well." "Smart" is definitely not automatically synonymous with "safe." The police and VdS Schadenverhütung have long warned that increasing networking brings with it not only many disruptive factors, but also new and in some cases previously unknown risks.

Insurers' umbrella association also warns

The prevention forum of the European insurers' umbrella organization "Insurance Europe" has now also analyzed the booming topic. With burglary damage payments of almost half a billion euros per year by German insurers alone and ever new damage scenarios due to Internet attacks, insurers naturally have a particular interest in reliable protection technology. In a recent position paper, the association weighs up the benefits and risks of burglary protection offered by current smart home systems (which are often also used for commercial risks) for end customers and insurers alike.

Interesting for qualified manufacturers, installers and users: The position paper also summarizes publications by authorities and other recognized institutions such as VdS Schadenverhütung, which clearly describe the weak points of the systems. These include the usual 1-factor authentication (too weak), the unencrypted transmission of video data, no restrictions on the incorrect entry of access data, insecure interfaces and, of course, apps.

Sebastian Brose from VdS emphasizes: "The insurance experts also venture a hopefully helpful outlook into the future for the security industry - and call on their members in Europe to prevent a false sense of security from setting in among policyholders. Importantly for qualified installers, they warn against do-it-yourself installation in particular."

One conclusion of the position paper is that insurers, as opinion leaders for loss prevention, should push the application of appropriate standards in the smart home segment.

The five-page publication (English) is available for download at vds-home.com.