Follow these steps to stay secure and maintain privacy at home

Always-on digital devices make pandemic life more convenient, flexible and productive. Tablets help us get stuff done, virtual assistants keep us on schedule and smart cameras allow us to keep an eye on home while we step out into the world. According to a new report from Deloitte, the average U.S. household has more than a dozen networked devices, including laptops, phones, smart TVs, video-streaming gadgets, earbuds, fitness trackers and thermostats. 

But along with the convenience of smart home technology come significant privacy and security risks. Internet-connected devices can inadvertently expose your private information or allow snoops to spy on private locations. To these ends, easily hacked passwords are a top target for hackers and cybercriminals.  "When the pandemic hit and everyone started working from home, security professionals became immediately concerned that hackers would exploit the use of personal devices. And that's of course exactly what happened," said Frances Zelazny, startup advisor and "internet of things" analyst. "Within months, there were malicious sites and viruses circulating all over the place, with the home router and printer being the entry point of choice for malicious exploitations. And once the hackers were in, they then exploited weak authentication methods to conduct fraud, install ransomware and access corporate networks."