In an article titled "Betrayed" by in the current (March 26 07) issue of the New Yorker, author George Packer writes this about the Green Zone in Baghdad: "The deeper the Americans dug themselves into the bunker, the harder they worked to create a sense of normalcy ... The more chaotic Iraq became, the more the Americans resorted to bureaucratic gestures of control. The fact that it took five signatures to get Adobe Acrobat installed on a computer was strangely comforting."
And sometimes the bunker mentality precedes the bunkers.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++IMO, home automation and a smart home ought to be helpful in smart risk assessment and effective risk reduction, and real-time loss mitigation (think sprinklers and their cyber equivalents) -- not feed paranoia.
What are the real threats and needed protection that pertain to HA in general and net-connected devices in particular in the context of comp.home.automation ?
And specifically, what are 'best practices' with respect to net connectivity for home automation controllers?
Assume a home network with broadband Internet connectivity, a local network with multiple computers connected to it ( +/- WIFI) that is also used for audio visual and other HA infrastructure, and a PC-based home automation controller controlling home infrastructure among other things.
Assume a median-price (US $210,000) home in which ~5% of the cost ($10,000) is invested in various Home Automation and security features.
In other words, the budget is sufficient to deal with the vulnerabilities that creating a smart, net-connected home creates.
Or is it? ;-)
... Marc Marc_F_Hult