Samantha Albano

What happens to my Amazon Echo recordings?

Having a connected speaker in your home once meant you simply had a device that could play great quality sound from another connected device. Today, smart speakers like Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod do much more. These always on devices can respond to your questions, control functions of your smart home, set reminders, and still play your favorite music— all at your voice command. ...

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Nicole Zheng

Smart home security teardown: why VPN, firewall, and antivirus don't cut it

The number of devices in homes is exploding, and service providers are feeling the impact. The “smart home” is a fun term for progressive consumers, but in this moment, it might be best translated to “widened attack surface” to ISPs. (Not as fun.)

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Nicole Zheng

BLU’s FTC settlement: good reminder that IoT security is tricky

On April 30, 2018, the FTC announced that it has reached a settlement with the US mobile phone maker BLU over deceptive security claims. As we're focused on consumer IoT security and management, I thought I'd reflect on some challenges this event has highlighted.

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