Aside from its infuriatingly vague and meaningless moniker, the idea of having hooking every appliance in your house up to the internet seems like a good one. Smart technology (or the Internet of Things) lets you control your home thermostat using your phone while you're out, watch your home security cameras over your phone, or use a smart fridge to... wait, why the hell would anyone need a smart fridge? Ah yes, to see what food you have in your fridge without the ordeal of opening the door. But already the Internet of Things has big problems other than its name. Any device connected to your home Wi-Fi network can easily be hacked if you have a bad password on your router (which, let's face it, most of us do). Hack attacks on smart tech have already happened. In December 2014, over 750,000 Wi-Fi devices - including TVs, media servers and of course a fridge - were hacked and turned into botnets, sending out millions of spam e-mails. Things get darker with 'smart' webcams, baby monitors and security cameras. Last year, a Russian site appeared showing live footage from over 70,000 hacked cameras in peoples' homes as a way of demonstrating how insecure devices in the so-called Internet of Things currently are. Don't want your smart dog door becoming an easy way in for robbers, or your smart egg tray (it actually exists) becoming a spam egg tray? Then make sure you have a strong password!
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
