A few weeks, ago, technology news site The Verge reported on a new Ring security camera that is in fact a drone that flies around inside your house. Available beginning next year, the ‘Always Home Cam’ is supposed to give its owners a total view of their home without the need for multiple cameras. Those worried about break-ins or other kinds of suspicious activities may like the idea of being a fly on the wall in any room inside the house, even when they’re away from home.

Traditional IoT Security Threats

Security professionals may look at the news from a different lens, that is, by keeping in mind the poor level of security that tends to characterize of the Internet of Things (IoT) including smart home devices like security cameras. Many of these products contain easily exploitable vulnerabilities, including common default passwords. Simultaneously, security researchers’ growing focus on these devices has made more severe vulnerabilities available to a wider audience of hackers.

This isn’t mere innocent fun for the security conference stage. There are many IoT botnets that are currently active, engaged in large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks or rented out as proxy networks. Probably more worryingly for device owners was the news reported by Motherboard last year that a hacker broke into a Ring camera installed in a children’s bedroom in Tennessee and spoke with one of the children.

IoT devices have a deservedly bad reputation when it comes to security, but things are improving. Many manufacturers are taking security more seriously, while around the world, new laws have been written or are being debated to mandate certain IoT security practices while banning insecure ones, such as the use of common default passwords.

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