G+_Cory Albrecht Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Hey Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ?, You talked a bunch about home automation devices like the SmartThngs line, but I haven't seen you talk about security issues with those things. I'm a network engineer by trade (primarily VoIP integration), but I've also done a lot of sysadmin stuff over my career, so you understand how important security is to me. Making a "Star Trek" home has become a goal of mine ever since I bought my first Arduino a few years ago, but SmartThings and that ilk have come down in price so that they're cheaper than what I can make myself but information on how they connect to the cloud is all but nonexistant. If they require open ports forwarded from my router, that's an always-open hole that makes me wary; but if the device polls the cloud for remote commands then there's no hole. I'm a tinkerer at heart, so even if these devices do meet my personal standards I still may build everything myself, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks in advance! P.S. What do you think of OpenHAB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 The Internet of Insecure Things. Yup. I've been running Indgio on the Mac for years now. But its not secure from what I've seen. But it runs ZWave, Insteon, x-10 and a few others. You can write Applescripts for it, also Python scripts and Python plugins. So if it doesn't do what you want out of the box, to can make it do it. It only needs holes poked through if you want external access to your system while away from home. Of course you could VPN in /share desktop to add security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 The security of connected appliances is what scares me the most. I'd love to have my doors and garage door controlled by my phone, but security really needs to be the first consideration with these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Oh, and especially so for connected and self driving cars. I'd love for my car to be able to park itself or drive down the highway, but the thought of someone hacking my car into their bot net really worries me. On one hand, I want Google or someone with security experience to build the automation systems for cars, but the other part of me thinks proprietary systems built by Ford, GM, Toyota, etc could be less hackable... Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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