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March 21, 2023March 21, 2023

How to Protect Your Smart Home: Tips and Tricks for Maximum Security

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As smart home devices become more prevalent, so do the risks associated with them. Hackers and cybercriminals are always on the lookout for vulnerabilities in smart home systems, which can leave you and your family vulnerable to theft, invasion of privacy, and even physical harm. In this article, we’ll discuss the best practices for securing your smart home, including tips and tricks for maximum security.

Use Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication

The first step in securing your smart home is to use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication for all of your smart devices. Avoid using easy-to-guess passwords like “password” or “123456,” and use a unique password for each device. Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification, such as a fingerprint or facial recognition.

Keep Your Devices Up-to-Date

Keeping your smart devices up-to-date is essential for maintaining their security. Manufacturers regularly release updates that address security vulnerabilities and other issues. Be sure to install these updates as soon as they become available, and check for updates regularly.

Use a Secure Wi-Fi Network

Your Wi-Fi network is the gateway to your smart home, so it’s crucial to use a secure network. Use a strong password for your Wi-Fi network, and consider using a guest network for your smart devices. This can help prevent hackers from gaining access to your main network.

Monitor Your Devices for Suspicious Activity

Regularly monitoring your smart devices for suspicious activity can help you detect any security breaches early on. Keep an eye out for any unusual behavior, such as devices turning on or off unexpectedly or strange sounds coming from your smart speakers. If you notice anything suspicious, take immediate action.

Use a Smart Home Security System

Using a smart home security system can provide an added layer of protection for your home. These systems typically include cameras, motion sensors, and other devices that can alert you to potential security breaches. Some smart home security systems even use artificial intelligence to learn your home’s patterns and alert you to any deviations.

Be Careful with Third-Party Apps and Devices

Be cautious when using third-party apps and devices with your smart home system. These apps and devices can introduce vulnerabilities into your network, making it easier for hackers to gain access. Before using any third-party apps or devices, do your research and make sure they are reputable and secure.

Conclusion

Securing your smart home is essential for protecting your family and your belongings. By following these tips and tricks, you can maximize the security of your smart home and minimize the risks associated with these devices. Remember to use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, keep your devices up-to-date, use a secure Wi-Fi network, monitor your devices for suspicious activity, use a smart home security system, and be careful with third-party apps and devices. With these best practices in place, you can enjoy the convenience of your smart home with the peace of mind that comes with maximum security.

May 22, 2022May 22, 2022

Apple Display Supplier Frozen Out – Caught with Shady Practices

According to a recent report by Ben Lovejoy at 925mac, Chinese display manufacturer, BOE is in very hot water after being caught trying to cut corners. Apple outsources its phone displays to other companies. Samsung is in the lead with LG following behind, while BOE comes in third. Despite this, they still were hoping to fulfill an order of 40M OLED screens across various models.

Struggle to Meet Demand

A month ago, the LEC reported that BOE was struggling to meet demand. This was due to 3 primary reasons.

A) The global chip shortage has hit the display driver chip industry particularly hard. Samsung has its own Chip making company called Samsung System LSI, which it uses to supply itself. On the other hand, LG and BOE both share the same chip supplier – LX Semicon. Given the choice, LX Semicon had elected to supply LG before BOE. This left BOE in a crunch.

B) Simultaneously, the yield rate – which is the rate of how much percent of a manufacturer’s production are fit to sell was lower than expected. Apple is notoriously stringent in their quality control requirements, and even Samsung has a lower yield rate for their Apple contracts vs general production. However, BOE was doing even worse than usual.

C) At the same time that all this was going on, one of their new factories was delivering a low factory operation rate. The report does not say why, but we must speculate that the extreme Chinese Covid lockdowns are playing a role.

Desperate Measures

All this left BOE struggling to meet its commitments to Apple. The story took a strange turn last week after it was reported that BOE had secretly made changes to the design of the circuitry without approval from Apple. When they were discovered, they sent some C level executives to try to explain themselves. Apparently, that did not go over too well with Apple either.

As a result, BOE has been cut out of the iPhone 14 orders altogether and its initial 30M order (prior to them raising it to 40M) was handed to Samsung instead. It is extremely unlikely that Samsung will be able to fulfill both their initial order and this one so expect shortages on the iPhone 14. It is unclear however, whether BOE will be permanently banned or whether they will be allowed back for future releases.

I find it interesting how in the “Smart Phone Wars”, everything is connected, and how even when purchasing an iPhone, their direct competitor (Samsung) directly benefits from each purchase. The real-life ramifications of the Geopolitics such as Covid Lockdowns and chip shortages are also fascinating to me.

Zoom Limits Free Meetings to 40 Minutes

Zoom has announced that they will be slashing the maximum meeting time to 40 minutes for their free subscription beginning May2. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Zoom has been hailed as the link that kept people all around the world from feeling completely isolated. Although, even before Covid, video conferencing was quite common both for personal and business requirements, its use and popularity exploded once we were all forced into isolation. Another change that came as a surprise, was how Zoom had a meteoric rise to the top of the video conferencing options.

Prior to Covid, most people associated video conferencing with Skype. Zoom had the advantage of being extremely intuitive and simple to use plus being feature rich. They also caught Microsoft at an awkward time when they were attempting to shift away from Skype to their new offering “Teams”. 2 Years ago, however, Teams was simply not ready to compete with Zoom. I experienced this personally with meetings at my company where after a few weeks we shifted to Zoom.

To be sure, Zoom had its own rocky moments. Most famously, there were serious security concerns, and in November 202, the FTC Required Zoom to Enhance its Security Practices as Part of Settlement. However, for the most part Zoom had been able to overcome these difficulties and remain at the top of the video conferencing food chain.

Microsoft has not been idle these last 2 years and they have been steadily improving the Teams experience, even including ad hoc meetings baked into Windows. This new 40 minute cap imposed by Zoom on will only make competitive products seem more attractive to users. To be fair though, Microsoft Teams has it’s own 60 Minute cap on the free version of Teams, but Skype remains available for free while allowing meetings for up to 24 hours. It will be interesting to see whether this move will let Microsoft regain some of the ground it lost to Zoom.

Another New Outlook!

Microsoft is once again pushing their reimagining of Office integrations in yet another iteration of Outlook. I find it interesting that although they have been pushing Teams to be their central hub over the past few years (In fact I thought that email integration was coming to Teams), Outlook is not ready yet to be dethroned as the primary “Product Information Management” tool. It looks like it is available for home users as well. I haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but from the way it is being described, Microsoft is leaning more heavily on AI to sniff out and then pin files and items that they feel are most useful. Here’s to me hoping that they do a better job on this than on Cortana in Windows 10 and the dreaded “Show Relevant Results” option for Outlook search in the current editions .

You can read more about it here in this pcworld article.

Microsoft unveils the future of Outlook, and you can try it right now | PCWorld