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Google has recently announced that it would pay $3.2 billion to buy a smart thermostat and alarm produced by Nest. In 2013 there were over 10 billion devices connected to the Internet and by 2020, their number will grow to 50 billion, according to the forecasts of Cisco company. To prevent outbreaks of attacks by hackers, which will grip the consumer electronics, specialists think that there is an urgent need for the development of security standards that will be strictly adhered to by manufacturers. As I have said, the ball is not in the hands of users and it is unrealistic to expect that each of us can take the time and have the necessary knowledge to ensure the security of all types of smart household appliances. Bearing in mind the fact that each manufacturer uses its own operating system that is differently customized, this becomes even more impossible to implement. Definitely, the producers of household appliances will play an increasingly important role in protecting them against hacker attacks.

Steps in this direction are already being taken. There are different groups that encourage the producers to use open source systems which, in their opinion, will help quickly localize the problems and enable each of the producers to take advantage of the 'patches' developed for them.
 
Another part of the measures includes remote access that will enable the specialists to localize the problems and eliminate them. This, of course, gives rise to the privacy issue. Nobody would really like to be monitored in terms of what they watch on their TV. I will only mention that it has been recently established that large producers of smart TVs have anonymously monitored the programmes watched by their users for the purposes of personalized advertising. However, this is another topic and I will leave it aside for the time being. The point is that the remote access to one’s TV or fridge is possible, in one way or another, and one may need to choose between regulated access on the part of security companies and unregulated access by hackers. Which one is the lesser evil?

The problem is that hackers, for example, can use a smart coffee maker, and there is no indication of what is happening without our knowledge. Even professionals can find this difficult because the device is not meant to have a display allowing communication with the operating system inside it.

One thing is clear, namely that in addition to the numerous options facilitating our lives the smart appliances pose a great danger which we have never thought about. Their security must become a priority for producers! However, the question remains as to whether any of us wants to be monitored in terms of how many times we open the refrigerator, what type of coffee we drink and how much or what TV channels we change with our remote control!