An Architecture Approach to a Secure Home Area Network

Appliances in home networks come in various types and models. Homes are fitted with smart televisions, fridges, speakers and even smart locks. All these interact in a smart home area network and many store data in the cloud. The security risks of these devices include all risks involved with the collection of the data, the transmission of the data and the cloud storage of the data. Unauthorised user access may lead to disastrous consequences for the home owner. Home owners are not aware of the risks posed by the technical specifications of their latest appliance. When these seemingly different devices are investigated from a theoretical computer science architecture perspective, they share a layered architectural design, comprising of a perception layer, network layer, support layer and an application layer. This paper explores the security risks and threats from this architectural perspective. The theoretical investigation is supported by an empirical investigation of manufacture release documents and product reviewer documents using data from document and content analysis. The findings of the paper show how the network architecture design of the device along with specific design decisions of manufacturers impact the security risk of the device for the home owner.