Many people like to choose smart bulbs over regular bulbs across the world. Smart bulbs are increasingly popular among users at present. One of the primary facts about this popularity is the benefits of smart bulbs. People like to switch to smart bulbs because they require low energy and have a longer lifespan than normal ones. Smart bulbs are also trendy among users as they can easily control their lighting preferences with simple commands. However, there are both benefits and negative points to using smart bulbs. Most of the time, some people believe that using a smart bulb lighting system at home could be very risky. Smart bulbs hack is the main question we hear these days.
So let us dig up more about it!
Focusing on facts, yes, there is a security risk of using these smart bulbs up to a certain extent. But, smart bulbs have many features that can make your life easy. Therefore, it is also true that smart bulbs lighting will give you a fantastic experience.
So are you willing to use smart lighting but worrying whether it is a good decision or not? No need to worry. You can learn how to follow security measures to minimize the security threat of these smart bulbs. If you are aware of these security risks, you can take necessary actions to avoid those. It will make your nighttime more colorful and provide a fantastic opportunity to share your lovely moments.
Are smart bulbs good for the security of your house?
Smart bulbs are beneficial for lighting your house. Other than that, smart bulbs can do many tricks that can ensure the security of your home. Smart bulbs, which are designed for indoor and outdoor use, have some essential features. These smart bulbs can easily connect with motion sensors that can detect when someone walks into a room.
For example, Philip’s new motion sensor can connect to smart bulbs. When it fixes the smart lighting system, the bulbs light up automatically once it senses the motion. Like that way, motion sensor lights can provide security for your house.
More than that, smart bulbs lighting technology can ensure your home security when you are away from home. Imagine you are traveling with your family for a long weekend. While you are traveling, you do not want to worry about the security of your house. If you use smart bulbs to lighten your home, you can turn on and off your lights as you wish.
Likewise, instead of leaving your lights entirely off, you can fool the thieves who are looking to rob your house. For these reasons, smart bulb lighting can indeed ensure the security of your home. However, there is also a security risk of using smart bulbs. Even though smart bulbs can make your life easy, hackers can hack the app that you are using to control the system. That is why it is essential to know about these security risks to minimize the harm from technology.
Can hackers hack the smart light bulbs?
Have you ever wondered if the smart bulb system you used can easily hack? Most smart bulb users are curious to know about the security risk of smart bulbs. Many experts say that hackers cannot use smart bulbs to spy on you. But hackers can hack through the Firmware. The firmware installed in microchips can be used to get access to smart lights’ Wi-Fi connection. Following this way, hackers can quickly get access to other smart equipment in your house.
It is needed to have an idea about how these hackers can control your smart lighting system. Hackers can take control over changing the brightness or colors of the smart light bulbs. In these situations, usually, the smart bulbs appear unreachable for the users’ control app. To get the control back, users have the option to reset the bulbs.
To reset the bulbs, users have to delete them from the app and rediscover the bulbs. But what happens if you do not update your device with the new Firmware? Then the hackers with updated Firmware can quickly get access to your system. That is why it is vital to keep your device constantly updated with the new Firmware.
However, hackers can easily hack some smart bulbs. For example, researchers have found that hackers can easily hack Philips Hue smart light bulbs from outside of a building. They further said that hackers could use a flying drone to hack a room with Philips Hue smart bulbs. Users can reduce these security issues by automatically updating the Hue system in Philip Hue bulbs. Also you can apply this theory to Feit smart bulbs too.
In 2020, a group of researchers at Check Point Research further researched the security risk of these smart bulbs. They found that hackers can install malware through Philips Hue smart bulbs. Using the smart light bulbs system, hackers can get access to other devices on the network. Therefore, it raises another security issue for your personal laptops, tablets, and phones as well.
Likewise, using smart light bulbs might indeed cause security issues. But if you regularly follow the necessary safety precautions, you will be able to keep your home secure from hackers.
How to follow security measures to prevent hacking your smart bulbs?
Setting passwords
As the first step of securing your smart light system, you need to pay close attention to your passwords. When setting the passwords, it is necessary to put a secure password for the system. If you use simpler passwords, it will provide low security for the smart bulbs system. Therefore, as the first step, you have to set a strong password for your network.
Many users use the same model-specific names of the routers as the password. But it is a security risk for your network. Hackers can quickly identify these passwords, making their task easy to misuse your smart bulb system. Moreover, you can also change your passwords from time to time if you notice any suspicious actions.
Two-factor authentication
Another way of securing your smart bulbs from hackers is to enable two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication provides high security for your smart devices. It usually has a digit code that sends to the users through a text message. From two-factor authentication, it offers additional protection than using your passwords. Then the users have to enter their password as well as the digit code to access their accounts. Likewise, even though hackers can get their hands on your password, they cannot log into the users’ accounts without the digit code.
Accordingly, you can secure your network system from hackers by enabling two-factor authentication.
Updating Firmware
Updating Firmware is another security action you can follow to ensure the security of your network system. Firmware is the low-level software that powers your internet devices. Running older versions of Firmware will provide an opportunity for hackers to hack your smart devices.
Therefore, it is always essential to keep updated Firmware. You can set your device updates to make sure updates are up to date automatically. But usually, if you do not check for updates, you can set a reminder to check your updates.
In many devices, Firmware does not automatically get updated. Therefore, users need to update the Firmware of the smart bulb through the settings of the smart bulb app. Updating will minimize the chances of hackers getting access to your smart devices secretly.
Monitoring the smart bulbs
After ensuring the security of your WI-FI connection and smart devices, the next important step is to monitor your smart bulbs. If you pay close attention to your smart bulbs regularly, you can notice any malfunctions related to smart bulbs.
For example, you can take the necessary precautions in a sudden malfunction or any other noticeable changes. If you see one of the smart bulbs acting strange, do not delay to get the required actions. This action can ensure the safety of your smart bulb light system as well as the safety of your home. Other than that, sometimes users also report that they cannot detect one of the smart bulbs in their list. If you cannot find one of your smart bulbs, unplug and connect it to the test network.
By doing so, you can make sure that the other connected devices are safe from the security risk.
Finally, you need to pay attention to your smart light bulbs. It will help you detect, fix the errors, and reduce the security threat from your smart lights.
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