Most French people are equipped with gadgets to improve their daily lives, to be reassured and protected. But sometimes these objects have the opposite effect.
Intelligent locks, vocal assistants, video bells or even thermostats: connected objects are gradually installed in homes to improve comfort, safety and especially peace of mind. They are used without asking questions, such as a natural extension of everyday life. However, each of them presents a potential danger.
Behind their familiar appearance, these devices all work thanks to an internet connection. It is practical, but it also means that you are never totally alone in front of them. An error as simple as a default password or an ignored update is enough to transform a reassuring object into a discreet threat. Many do not realize it, because the danger is neither visible nor immediate. And this is precisely what makes him more worrying.
The most telling example concerns a device that is now found in almost one in ten accommodation: domestic surveillance cameras. Designed to protect, they can actually expose us to everyone’s eyes. Italian host Stefano de Martino has recently experienced it when personal images captured at his home found themselves on the Internet. The problem does not come from the device itself, but from a flaw of use: a too simple password, a forgotten configuration or a system never updated allowed a hacker to reveal his intimate life on the internet.
In order not to be the target of such a hacking, it is recommended to systematically change your passwords, to choose complex codes, to install the updates offered by the manufacturer and to favor recognized brands. Because each new connected object installed at home does not only bring comfort: it also adds a new front door. And if this door remains open, which should protect you can turn against you and put your privacy online, in view of all.
