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Apple and Amazon Adopt Opposing Strategies as Smart Home War Heats Up
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First of all it's unfair to even suggest that people with connected devices are automatically idiots who contribute to internet DDOS attacks. That's just bull. Those attacks are usually launched with those who have weak passwords on their cameras and other smart devices. I personally don't do that. All of my devices have strong passwords thus I do not contribute. I get a little tired of people around here with their holier-than-thow Apple fanboy attitude who think Apple Inc is the only company who can handle security. I personally don't trust ANY company to handle security and that includes Apple. It's MY personal responsibility to make sure all of my devices are properly secured.
Let's also get this straight once and for all. Just because you have an Amazon Echo doesn't mean that someone can walk up to your house and start opening doors. It doesn't work like that. Amazon has incorporated a reasonable amount of security where connected devices are locked down fairly well. If you want to be paranoid about it, then fine, but there are a couple of things to consider before you simply say "I will never have an echo".
1st, Criminals even have to care about you first. If you are self important enough to think that someone even cares about coming after you, that's fine but I don't live like that. Life it too short.
2nd, If someone wants to get into my house, they will no matter what cyber security I have. A good swift kick to the front door will negate any electronic security I deploy. Smashing windows is also another favorite.
The Echo is a device of convenience. I will secure it to the best of my ability and use it. I see no point in living in a paranoid bubble for the rest of my life.
With that said, if Apple eventually develops HomeKit to the point of usefulness, I will switch over but for now, the Echo works well enough and much more useful than HomeKit.
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I don't, they have more than enough money to get security, usability and reliability all right and quickly enough for it to beat the competition to market, they just can't do it for some reason.
As long as I'm going secure, I'd want it for everything. I don't want some Russian hacker or a 400-pound guy in his mother's basement changing the settings on my toaster.
I think people stretch this bit! When people say security is not IMMENSE importance does not mean, NO security. Sure if we could secure all our smart appliance through two-step or three-step verification but that would annoy the consumers; to switch on their lights, would they need to enter five different passwords for each room? Security argument can also be stretched by saying none of the devices out there are secured!
It is just the context of Alexa where Amazon wants to push the products into the market and see the response, security issues if any and address the same. Much like Android OS. At this point, latest Android OS(Nexus/Pixel especially) is comparably secure as iOS if not more. Amazon over a period of time can achieve control over the ecosystem when it actually makes sense. Building a secure eco-system assuming they will become Apple may not work in their favor. They experimented with Fire Phone didn't work and they moved forward.
First of all, what you quoted was in reference to people who actually said they didn't care if they were hacked. Are you someone who doesn't care if you get hacked?
Many devices do require a hub of some sort to work with the Amazon Echo, but not all. I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I have a Wemo light switch that is controlled by the Echo with no hub. There are also light bulbs (LIFX is one) that can be controlled directly by the Echo. They both work over your local wifi.
Nice to see some competition. Hopefully this continues and we get some improvement. I've been disappointed in the progress of Siri.
A Truly Smart Home: Where the homeowner has enough common sense to flip the light switch off when leaving a room...just like we were taught at 4 years old.
You guys and security 
There is no issue
The fact is if Apple had an open sourced device you would own it now.
There is no issue
The fact is if Apple had an open sourced device you would own it now.
Of course, that's one perspective, not a statement of fact.
Another perspective is that their focus on rigorous security standards, particularly where your own home is concerned, sets Apple apart from all other companies whose business model is to penetrate as much of the market as quickly as possible by doing it on the cheap and appealing the the predictable ignorance and/or indifference of the masses to security concerns.
Heck, when many of us here were kids, WE were the TV remote control unit for our Dads
With only a voice command given to change channels, we'd scramble to obey and then fine tune the horizontal and vertical controls.
We even changed channels automatically between family favorite shows, and knew to turn down the volume when the room phone rang.
It was like having intelligent assistants. For Dad, anyway.
So... yes, we could continue to do things manually, or we can take advantage of modern electronic help. Depends on whether you have kids as remotes, I guess
Heck, when many of us here were kids, WE were the TV remote control unit for our Dads
With only a voice command given to change channels, we'd scramble to obey and then fine tune the horizontal and vertical controls.
We even changed channels automatically between family favorite shows, and knew to turn down the volume when the room phone rang.
It was like having intelligent assistants. For Dad, anyway.
So... yes, we could continue to do things manually, or we can take advantage of modern electronic help. Depends on whether you have kids as remotes, I guess
Now there's a real memory-flogger. We were also the rabbit-ear adjusters and sometimes the rabbit-ear holders if that was the only way of getting good reception. Analog automation.
It doesn't matter if you PERSONALLY take security seriously. And it doesn't matter if someone else doesn't care that someone they don't know turns lights on and off in their house. Thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of IOT devices don't have good security. And they don't need to be used to break into your house, they can be used to provide bots in a DDOS attack-http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/10/24/10-things-know-october-21-iot-ddos-attacks/
As smart devices become more prevalent that means millions more devices will be poorly secured. Don't believe me? Read through this forum and see how many people have some form of "I don't care about security" comment in them. Companies you DO care about and e-commerce that DOES affect you can be slowed to a crawl or stopped, even if only temporarily. It doesn't have to be a physical attack on your house by a burglar to cost you time and money. But there's also is that threat too. And if you live in an area that has a lot of break-ins your insurance rate goes up, even if your house isn't ever broken into.
The IOT means that you get to live even more directly with the consequences of what others do even if you are careful or don't even own or use such devices.
Well, as much i would like to see you're right I can only see Apple putting minimal effort in things. Their whole product range is stalling and that's a fact. So I don't believe it's a security thing only. They used to be cutting edge 4-5 years ago. Today they're getting farther behind by the day and that doesn't justify their premium prices.
The problem with smart homes is definitely security. So many devices are easily hacked, don't get patched, etc.
In Apple's case - security is a big concern and that's totally fine. But everything else they are doing is drastically expensive to the manufacturer and slows things down.
The critical pieces I want secure are my door locks, t-stat, and alarm system.
If someone hacks my hue lights, whatever.
In Apple's case - security is a big concern and that's totally fine. But everything else they are doing is drastically expensive to the manufacturer and slows things down.
The critical pieces I want secure are my door locks, t-stat, and alarm system.
If someone hacks my hue lights, whatever.
I have friends who have Alexa installed in their homes and give not one thought to the fact that that machine is listening to everything. EVERYTHING.
Amazon and Google have not shown themselves to be good security citizens with other products, so I don't expect them to be different with this tech. That being said, I understand how the convenience is appealing to folks. I love most new tech, but to have a machine listening to everything we say and not have top line security for the device? Nope. I will wait for the more secure solution, thank you very much.
Amazon and Google have not shown themselves to be good security citizens with other products, so I don't expect them to be different with this tech. That being said, I understand how the convenience is appealing to folks. I love most new tech, but to have a machine listening to everything we say and not have top line security for the device? Nope. I will wait for the more secure solution, thank you very much.
Except that there's no proof that I've seen in the five years that I've followed IoT devices that devices from reputable companies have been hacked on a large scale. If that proof existed, Apple would have a much more compelling case for their strict security requirements with HomeKit.
Unless and until there's widespread uproar about a lack of security with a major IoT platform, Apple is going to continue to play a losing game with HomeKit.
Edit: The DDoS attacks this past October primarily occurred, from what I've read, because people failed to change default passwords and settings on routers and on some connected security cameras, not because of an inherent security flaw with IoT devices.
Unfortunately, some people still haven't learned their lesson when it comes to creating strong, unique passwords. Many of those same people probably have weak passwords on their Apple accounts and have no idea what two-factor authentication is. Weak security settings and weak passwords that are put in place by end users are akin to having a door with no lock installed; and both situations are begging to be exploited.
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And if someone hacks your lights and uses it not to change your lights but to conduct a DDOS attack on a company or website are you fine with that as well? This isn't a theoretical question, it's already happened.
Apple is too late. Seems like every person at work has or got Alexa over Christmas and love it. They missed out big time.
That article suggests that the main problem is that people don't change default passwords on routers, cams, etc.
The easiest answer to that, is to force/coax manufacturers into agreeing to require users to enter a decent password before a device can even be used.
Of course, that's just one vector of defense. The DNS providers and other cloud networks can do a lot to mitigate DoS attacks.
They could. They WON'T, but they could. Why? Because they have the same attitude many on this thread have shown: Not My Problem.
For me home kit is the right way forward in terms of being more "secure", however I also have Alexa(two in fact) and find her very reliable unlike Siri. I do hope Apple bring out something like the Echo Dot. I use both and quite happy to mix and match. Where possible I try and buy Home kit and Alexa compatible products.
When I've shown people Alexa they are impressed and end up buying one. With the Dot being so cheap and small Amazon have a winning formula.
When I've shown people Alexa they are impressed and end up buying one. With the Dot being so cheap and small Amazon have a winning formula.