Safety Through The Internet of Things: Why Your Fridge Can Finally Keep Your Home Safe From Burglars

Interconnected devices could become the next frontier in keeping us safe from the threat of burglary, so isn’t it nice that our fridge can now let us know if an intruder is lurking? 

Thanks to cloud technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a burgeoning landscape that has provided many of our household devices with the power to communicate with one another in a way that can help to keep us safer than ever before. 

In today’s world of ever-advancing tech, even our toasters can become smart, but how can these cloud-based devices help to keep our homes more secure? 

Sadly, instances of burglary in England and Wales grew by 4% in the year ending March 2023, and some 191,490 homes were targeted by burglars in the same period. 

With the threat of intruders growing, it’s becoming increasingly important for residents to take some time to consider their home security. 

Although there’s no replacement for an active alarm system, IoT devices can certainly help to improve your security should you become a target for burglars, and the presence of interconnected technology may even serve as a key deterrent for would-be intruders. 

With this in mind, let’s take a look at how Internet of Things devices can help to keep you safe from the threat of burglary: 

Advanced Home Monitoring

The most impressive innovation that IoT technology can bring to the table of home security is advanced monitoring capabilities even when residents are away from home for long periods. 

“Devices such as alarm systems now have the intelligence to detect, through a camera, when a person comes within an area of interest and can differentiate between people walking along a public path or walking on your property,” notes Mike Hibbett, security architect in the IoT Solutions Division at Taoglas.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, many home security cameras feature facial recognition technology which can help to send more valuable alerts to user smartphones, rather than raising the alarm when a friend, family member, or neighbour’s cat comes into view. 

From motion-sensing cameras to voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, which has the ability to listen for glass-breaking noises, our interconnected smart devices have become excellent at spotting signs of danger and alerting us through our smartphones. 

Or, indeed, our smart refrigerators. Even our fridges can help in the battle against burglary and can work alongside your Ring doorbell or other cameras around the house to show you live feeds in different rooms–meaning that when something isn’t quite right, you’ll have plenty of ways to identify what the problem may be. 

Discover Who’s Entering Your Home

Smart technology doesn’t just help you spot intruder activity, it can also actively keep burglars out of the property through IoT door handles. 

Smart door handles like the ENER-J Smart Wi-Fi handle can retain an active log of everybody who’s entered your home, and offers secure means of entry through fingerprint scanning, app verification, an RFID card, user PIN, or a traditional key. 

The door handle can even help users gain extra security by accepting a random mix of numbers before and after the correct PIN combination, meaning that you can enter your homes without anybody attempting to spy on your access codes. 

Many smart door handles can also send alerts to their owner’s smartphone if it detects an attempt at unauthorised access. 

To add an extra layer of security to these IoT door handles, it’s always worth incorporating some more traditional safety measures and installing a strong steel or brass deadbolt can be a great way of preventing brute force break-ins should anyone try to bypass the door handle. 

Ramping up your lock security will need professional key cutting services but for a relatively low cost, you can set yourself up with a combination of intelligent and effective security measures to prevent burglary. 

It’s even possible to buy padlocks and smaller locks with the same smart technology to keep garden sheds and gates closed for intruders. 

If you have a wooden door, “a 5-lever mortice lock compliant with BS3621 provides top-notch security, especially when combined with a night latch and optionally reinforcing the door when possible. Brands that offer high-quality mortice locks include Union (previously Chubb), Securefast and Era”, suggest home security experts at Ratedlocksmiths.co.uk. If you have a Composite & UPVC door, “Look for TS007, SS312 Diamond Approved Lock Cylinders, and/or 3 Star Diamond Sold Secure Rated locks with anti-snap cylinder mechanisms” they added.

IoT Security Requires Different Safety Measures

Although IoT technology offers a more comprehensive level of home security, it’s important to remember that your interconnected devices can potentially work against you if access falls into the wrong hands. 

“When carrying out a security assessment on a proof of concept smart home in the UK, my interest was piqued by a smart home management system that aggregated smart products,” claimed Tom Snyder, executive director at RIoT. “We noticed an insecure direct object reference in an account reference parameter and by modifying this, we could access the user’s account.”

“As it brought together virtually every smart device in the home, it allowed us to compromise everything. Even devices that we knew were otherwise secure. We had the ability to unlock smart door locks, disable smart house alarms, spy on CCTV, listen to microphones, everything.”

With this in mind, it’s essential that you use your IoT devices securely and avoid untrusted manufacturers. 

You should also regularly monitor which users are signed into your network of smart devices to make sure nobody’s exploiting your technology. 

While Internet of Things technology still comes with some threats of its own to home safety, your devices have never had so much control in keeping your property safe from intruders. 

Whether you use your fridge to make sure no burglars are at the door, or continually check your smart door handle’s activity log to learn whether anybody’s attempted unauthorised access recently, we now have more control than ever in keeping our homes, and ourselves, safe from harm.