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Does homekit automatically mean the device has better cyber security?

shagie 6y ago
One of the key things with HomeKit is that its on the local network. For Google or Amazon home automation, it goes from device to AWS or GCP, to the vendor cloud portal, back to the home device or bridge to those devices. In my eyes, that "out and back on a different channel" is the problem. Home kit devices can be controlled without an internet connection (I've just tested this) though the voice control of them still does the speech recognition in the cloud. So, the home kit (via HomePod) does device to cloud to device to home automation. I would contend that this approach is more secure - the control of the home automation devices only comes from the HomeKit hub rather than the internet. How much more secure that is - one can debate.
- cormacrelf 6y ago
  One missing part is whether the devices will talk on the public internet anyway. Some of them will, but at least with HomeKit you can firewall their traffic, I guess. Most home routers wouldn’t be able to do that though. Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? Like what happened a few weeks ago with Google, someone I know had their entire house behaving like a poltergeist.
  - chrisbolt 6y ago
    > Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? As GP mentioned, HomeKit works when your internet is down. It only uses Apple’s servers for out-of-home control.
  - shagie 6y ago
    > Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? Like what happened a few weeks ago with Google, someone I know had their entire house behaving like a poltergeist. My setup is: * HomePod as the HomeKit hub * Hue bridge (no external connection) I disconnected the network at the modem - the entire house was without an internet connection for the duration. Neither HomePod Siri nor an iPad Siri was able to control the lights via voice. However the iPad and various Macs were able to control the lights. The only thing that HomeKit uses the cloud for is the voice recognition of things spoken to Siri.

One of the key things with HomeKit is that its on the local network. For Google or Amazon home automation, it goes from device to AWS or GCP, to the vendor cloud portal, back to the home device or bridge to those devices. In my eyes, that "out and back on a different channel" is the problem. Home kit devices can be controlled without an internet connection (I've just tested this) though the voice control of them still does the speech recognition in the cloud. So, the home kit (via HomePod) does device to cloud to device to home automation. I would contend that this approach is more secure - the control of the home automation devices only comes from the HomeKit hub rather than the internet. How much more secure that is - one can debate.

cormacrelf 6y ago
One missing part is whether the devices will talk on the public internet anyway. Some of them will, but at least with HomeKit you can firewall their traffic, I guess. Most home routers wouldn’t be able to do that though. Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? Like what happened a few weeks ago with Google, someone I know had their entire house behaving like a poltergeist.
- chrisbolt 6y ago
  > Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? As GP mentioned, HomeKit works when your internet is down. It only uses Apple’s servers for out-of-home control.
- shagie 6y ago
  > Moreover, does any Apple server going down mean you can’t use your lights? Like what happened a few weeks ago with Google, someone I know had their entire house behaving like a poltergeist. My setup is: * HomePod as the HomeKit hub * Hue bridge (no external connection) I disconnected the network at the modem - the entire house was without an internet connection for the duration. Neither HomePod Siri nor an iPad Siri was able to control the lights via voice. However the iPad and various Macs were able to control the lights. The only thing that HomeKit uses the cloud for is the voice recognition of things spoken to Siri.