How to be smart with smart home devices


Illustration of devices

Smart home devices are popping up on holiday wish lists — and who doesn't love a thermostat that you can control from afar or a fridge that places a grocery order online? But "internet of things" products, those with network connectivity that allows them to connect and exchange data, also present a potential security risk for your personal data.

Jamie Winterton, director of strategy at Arizona State University's Global Security Initiative, specializes in cybersecurity. Here she shares a few things to keep in mind with internet-enabled home devices. If you want that smart toaster, Winteron won't judge — just be smart about it.

More Science and technology

 

Man crouched in the dirt in a desert landscape.

Lucy's lasting legacy: Donald Johanson reflects on the discovery of a lifetime

Fifty years ago, in the dusty hills of Hadar, Ethiopia, a young paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson, discovered what would become one of the most famous fossil skeletons of our lifetime — the 3.2…

A closeup of a silicon wafer next to a molded wafer

ASU and Deca Technologies selected to lead $100M SHIELD USA project to strengthen U.S. semiconductor packaging capabilities

The National Institute of Standards and Technology — part of the U.S. Department of Commerce — announced today that it plans to award as much as $100 million to Arizona State University and Deca…

Close-up illustration of cancer cells

From food crops to cancer clinics: Lessons in extermination resistance

Just as crop-devouring insects evolve to resist pesticides, cancer cells can increase their lethality by developing resistance to treatment. In fact, most deaths from cancer are caused by the…