How to Protect Your Home Security System

smart-home-automation

You depend on your home security system to protect you and your family against intruders. But have you ever considered the need to protect your home security system from hackers? Home automation hackers can exploit your system’s vulnerabilities, enabling them to remotely view your surveillance camera feeds, unlock doors, disable alarms or even capture private or intimate situations and post them online. Instead of having a secure home, you’re only left with a false sense of security that all is well — when just the opposite is true.

Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Security System From Hackers

The good news is that there are many ways to keep hackers at bay and ensure your security system is fully protecting your property as it should. Tips for protecting your home security system include:

Choose a high-quality system – Not all home security systems are created equal. Selecting a product from a reputable manufacturer that includes high encryption levels will minimize your susceptibility to hacking. A professional security system installer can help you make an informed decision.

Change your passwords regularly – Your system will come with a default password — which you should change as soon as the installation is complete. Refrain from using birthdays, your kids’ names or other obvious terms for passwords that even a novice hacker could easily decipher. Instead, make it a complex combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Also, when it comes to passwords, longer is always better. Update your password frequently — at least once per month.

Don’t use public Wi-Fi Connections – When possible, access your security system via a secure Wi-Fi connection. Avoid using public Wi-Fi, as this makes it much easier for hackers to detect your login information and get access to your personal data.

Use a secure router – If you have a wireless router at home, make sure to properly secure it. This will not only protect your home security system from hackers, but also your computers, smartphones, tablets and other connected devices.

Monitor your camera logs – Many security camera systems feature logs that indicate the IP addresses that have attempted to access the cameras. Regularly check the logs to identify any suspicious entries. If something seems amiss, immediately change the access codes and contact law enforcement officials.

Disable the remote online monitoring feature when not in use – The ability to monitor surveillance camera feeds remotely is a valuable security system feature. However, it also gives hackers additional opportunities to break into your system. A safe practice is to keep this feature disabled when you are not using it.

Contact Titan Alarm, Inc. for Additional Ways to Protect Your Home Security System

For more than a decade, homeowners throughout the Phoenix, AZ area have put their trust in Titan Alarm, Inc. to keep their family and property safe. We sell and install brand-name home security systems equipped with the most advanced encryption and other effective security features that will prevent hackers from gaining access.

Learn More About Home Security

Updated by Titan Alarm on November 5, 2018.