Pros and Cons of Smart Home Security

Like any Modern Technology, the Pros come with the Cons

Last updated: January 24, 2022

KEY TAKEAWAYS

“Any Internet of Things (IoT), or connected, device brings pros and cons. When it comes to IoT home security systems the pros are cost-effectiveness, ease of installation, visibility, and simplicity of use. Unfortunately, while these home security systems reduce your home’s attack surface, they may increase the attack surface of your home network. IoT devices are often not built with security in mind, and that means they could become an access point to your home network for a malicious actor. Smart home security systems may make it difficult for a criminal to come in the front door undetected but actually may become the entry point for a criminal to steal sensitive data off of your home network.” 

Dan Tyrrell, Manager Professional Services Cobalt.io

ADVANTAGES

Security

“The Smart Security System at your home gives you a sense of relief when you step out for many days on vacation. There are four different security systems available exclusively to supervise your home remotely. Smart Camera System: This is a common security feature implemented by most of us. You can watch out for the moves around your house remotely with the help of an app. The surveillance coverage area of the cameras will be visible in the app precisely. Smart Locks: You can lock your house smartly with the help of an app. It is difficult to break it by the intruders. If the system is cracked, the app alerts you immediately. Windows and Door sensors: An app controls these sensors, and it notifies you quickly when the intruder accesses them. Video doorbells: When the doorbell rings, the app notifies the house owner quickly. It had led the owner to speak to the caller flawlessly. Pros of this system High level of convenience to establish security control for the home. These security gadgets protect the house round the clock. Using this technology you can be proactive before theft can occur. Constant monitoring gives you peace when you are away from home for many days.”

They’re A Great Deterrent

Burglars are usually looking for an easy path in and a quick exit. They don’t like the concept of being watched or recorded while doing their work from afar. If you advertise your smart alarm system with visible notices, you’ll increase the chances that they’ll leave you alone and go on to a less difficult target.

According to statistics, burglaries are on the decline, whereas parcel theft is on the rise. Someone has come to your door, and a highly visible smart camera can warn you and allow you to talk with them. The knowledge that they can be recorded is often enough to prevent opportunistic criminals and safeguard your deliveries.

Sarah Jameson, Marketing Director Green Building Elements

Harriet Chan, Co-founder & Marketing Director CocoFinder

“Smart home security solutions provide some clear benefits for consumers. First and foremost is that they can be easily built and scaled by the homeowner. These systems typically rely on wireless sensors and can include wireless security cameras as well. Being DIY means you can save a fair bit on installation costs, and you won’t be paying much, if anything, in ongoing fees. Using the right technology to build such a system is important, both in terms of the communications the devices use, and the underlying smart home platform you built it on. Using devices that run over high-reliability options like ZigBee, Z-Wave, or the upcoming Matter standard to avoid delays and dropouts is a must. Cameras can be hardwired for better reliability at increased cost and complexity, otherwise, they’ll likely be reliant on standard Wi-Fi which may not be ideal depending on your camera and router placement.”

David Mead here, founder of the smart home tech site Linkdhome.com 

Convenience

“If you have a smart home security installed, you most probably also have an app to control the system. The well-known advantages of smart home security are its hands-off control and ability to monitor your home from your smartphone wherever you are. Other than protecting your home through CCTV and integrated alarm systems connected to security companies, you can do much more. Smart homes can save you a lot in energy and water bills by automatically turning off the switches at set times.”

Derrick Navara is the CEO of EstimationQS.com

Proactive Instead of Reactive

Standard security systems notify you when a problem, such as a break-in, fire, or carbon monoxide leak, is occurring or has occurred. Rather than suggesting measures to avoid such occurrences from occurring or informing you sooner, these just respond. Smart security systems, on the other hand, are proactive, with a variety of features to help you safeguard your house even more.

Alerts, for example, can be received from anywhere using your smartphone, iPad, or desktop computer and provide important information about recent events in and near your house. You’ll be warned if the rear door is accidentally left open, so you won’t have to worry about somebody walking around while you’re sleeping or at work. Your kid will be informed if he or she walks to the front door in the middle of the night since motion sensors will be activated.

Dan Close, Founder & CEO at We Buy Houses in Kentucky

DISADVANTAGES

Hacking and Security Risks

“When you lose your mobile phones, it is impossible to monitor remotely. All the apps connected to your home security system are active on your cell phones. There is a possibility of hacking risks. It is the greatest threat to the installed security systems at home. The technical experts can break the virtual lock and intrude into your house in no time. Virtual crime happens when the intruder loots your data while hacking the security systems at your home.”

Harriet Chan, Co-founder & Marketing Director CocoFinder

“The downside to smart home security is the high cost and its dependence on internet connection and electricity. This means that your electrical and internet connection must always be on to make it work. In this situation, intruders will take advantage of blackouts to burglarize your home and leave undetected if you don’t have emergency power backup. As with everything internet, smart home security systems are threatened by cybercrime in various forms. Hackers can launch cyberattacks as long as the internet is on, so in addition to the costs of installing the system, you will also need IT support for the lifespan of your system to guard against security threats and malfunctions. Unlike offline systems, configuration and setup for online systems is most often a challenge for someone who is not an IT expert, so once again the best deal you can have when choosing an installer, is finding out if they also provide IT support post-installation.”

Derrick Navara is the CEO of EstimationQS.com

Power Reliance

“The downsides to a well-built smart solution largely revolve around connectivity and power. In order to connect everything together and generate meaningful alarms and notifications, you’ll have some kind of hub in the home. That will require power and internet connectivity in order to alert you when you’re away from home. Standard home alarm systems will generally have backup power and hardwiring to a monitoring service to avoid this. You can achieve something similar with a smart system by adding an uninterruptible power supply and cellular backup systems but that adds significant cost.”

David Mead, Founder of the Smart Home Tech Site Linkdhome.com

Privacy and Ethical Implications

“The last decade has witnessed the mass distribution and adoption of smart home systems and devices powered by artificial intelligence systems ranging from household appliances like fridges and toasters to more background systems such as air and water quality controllers. The pervasiveness of these sociotechnical systems makes analyzing their ethical implications necessary during the design phases of these devices to ensure not only sociotechnical resilience, but to design them for human values in mind and thus preserve meaningful human control over them. Unfortunately, it seems that the pace of this technology growth and the adoption of technologies like Amazon Ring, Alexa and other branded devices has led to development without respect for basic human values like security and privacy. We have already seen numerous examples of how enterprises like Amazon have prized economic values over those of usability and informed consent. A radical shift is necessary in order to create and maintain meaningful human control over our technologies and thus our lives. In order to do this, we need to find ways to actively ensure that those enterprises who are designing and deploying the technologies we want to adopt are doing so in such a way that centers humans values like privacy, human autonomy, well-being, sustainability, security, and safety, among others in the design phases. We need to revision what it means to have conscious consumerism, and this can only be done with a collaborative effort to say that economic values and other moral values are only in apparent tension, and are actually complementary.”

Steven Umbrello, Managing Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Technoethics

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