At the heart of the Home Cyber Shield system is CCS’s proprietary Secure Access Manager (SAM) software platform. SAM acts a gatekeeper, allowing individual access to the network only to the degree and depth that the system administrator has granted – levels of permissible access that can be defined by the system administrator. All IP address and log-in credentials (username/password) are encrypted and masked from authorised users. All authorised users are logged and recorded when the attempt to credential into a device. Each individual who needs access to the home network and the products that are connected to it – to perform routine service and maintenance – can now perform their tasks without risks of their gaining permanent knowledge of the IP addresses and log-in credentials of the home owner’s products connecting to the internet, thus providing an advanced level of cyber security.

Additionally, with real-time monitoring of the health and performance of the products that connect to the home network – including real-time bandwidth usage analysis, HCS dealers will also be able to deliver customer service by proactively diagnosing system failures or underperformance. In some instances, service issues can be fixed remotely, before the end-user is adversely effected, and when service calls do need to be scheduled the integration firm can plan ahead so there is less impact on the end-user’s schedule. Systems Integrators no longer have to wait for the end-user to call them to tell them their systems are not working – proactive service will become the normal way of conducting business as more and more IP enabled products find their way into the home.

In today’s connected home, it is common to find 40 or more products that connect to the home network and ultimately the internet. In 5 years that number will likely triple. There are many benefits to having home appliances talk back and forth to the manufacturer or home owner. From refrigerators that tell you when you need to replace the water filter, to front door locks that tell you when family members come and go.

Just how vulnerable are these products to cyber attack? How secure is each part of the chain?

If common hacking software can get into even one product that connects to the home network, they have the potential to broaden their attack on the rest of the network and devices that are connected, including personal computers, media files and security devices. A recent study by Columbia University’s Intrusion Detection Systems Lab pointed out the vulnerabilities when they found that a staggering 45% of consumer products that were tested were vulnerable to security breaches. What is being done to secure the future of home network systems and the multitude of products that connect to the internet? And just who is ultimately responsible for providing home network security?

Custom integration dealers around the globe all know that the only way to secure a home owner’s residential network system and the electronic products that connect to the internet, is to assign a unique, strong username and password for each device, in every single home. Unfortunately, until now, there has never been a process a dealer could use to accomplish this – it would simply be too time-consuming to look up all of the unique log-in credentials in order to perform routine customer support and maintenance. Sometimes, dealers will resort to the use of a ‘password scheme’. An easily remembered log-in scheme that is shared among employees, ex-employees and third party contractors – inherently non-secure against common hacking software or disgruntled ex-employees. The bottom line is, in today’ systems integration business, too many people have access to too many home owner’s networked systems and devices.

However, in order for dealers, manufacturers and home owners to realise all of the benefits associated with the products that connect to the internet, there still needs to be a system in place that locks down the security of the network and the products that are connected to it, along with a system that grants secure permissible levels of remote access for those times when individuals have to perform routine maintenance and service. Finally, the industry must account for their access into client networked devices, providing full disclosure of what they logged into and what service was performed. And that time is now, with the arrival of the Home Cyber Shield system from Certified Cyber Solutions.