How to stay secure when all your devices rely on the ‘Internet of Things’

Have you ever stopped to think about how many items in your home are connected to the internet?

If you have (or even if you are doing it just now), have you stopped to wonder why? The umbrella term for all these connected appliances, electronics and other devices is “smart.”

We are living in the age of the smart home, smart car, smartphone, smart remote, smart thermostat, smart fridge … well, you get the idea.

So, what does all this “smartness” do for us?

Sure, it might allow us to adjust our thermostats when we are a thousand miles away on vacation or enable our microwave ovens to respond to voice commands.

But just how secure are all these internet-enabled devices?

Not very, according to two internet security experts with whom I spoke.

One of those experts is Bruce Schneier, fellow and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and author of the forthcoming book, “Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World.”

“We prefer our software full of features and inexpensive – at the expense of security and reliability,” Schneier said.

And because our appliances, electronics, cars, medical equipment and other devices essentially have become general purpose computers, they are now at risk for the same hacks as any other computer that runs internet-based software.

“We now have millions of