Your smart home devices are a major privacy risk – here’s how to secure them

Your smart home devices are a major privacy risk – here’s how to secure them

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-services/your-smart-home-devices-are-a-major-privacy-risk-heres-how-to-secure-them

Publish Date: 2026-05-19 15:00:00

Source Domain: www.techradar.com

That brand-new smart fridge might be keeping your groceries cool, but it could also be leaving your personal data out in the cold.

Today’s smart devices, ranging from security cameras and thermostats to seemingly harmless smart lightbulbs, often ship with notoriously weak security protocols. Worse still, they frequently “phone home,” sending a constant stream of your usage data back to manufacturer servers.

Unlike your laptop or smartphone, you cannot simply download and install security software on a smart plug. These Internet of Things (IoT) devices are essentially closed boxes, leaving consumers with very few options for on-device protection.

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If you want to secure these gadgets, the most effective solution is to secure the network they connect to. By setting up hardware-level encryption directly on your Wi-Fi router, you can automatically protect all connected IoT devices simultaneously.

To that end, finding the best VPN with router support is your first port of call.

However, it is vital to understand the limitations of this approach. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) restricts data protection to transit only. It will securely tunnel your data, but it cannot fix underlying firmware vulnerabilities or stop manufacturer-side data leaks once the information reaches their proprietary cloud servers.

The hidden security risks of smart devices

Many budget-friendly IoT devices rely on unencrypted channels to communicate. This leaves your network traffic vulnerable to local eavesdropping, meaning anyone nearby with the right tools could potentially intercept your data.

Even when encrypted, the continuous cloud connections required by smart homes allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and third-party trackers to map your daily routines. By simply monitoring spikes in your network activity, an observer can easily deduce when you wake up, when you leave for work, and when you go to sleep.

While a VPN will effectively…

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