SmartHome Forensics

The term SmartHome covers a wide variety of technologies that make your own home appear "smarter" and are intended to support everyday domestic life. The examples listed here are just a small selection:

• Heating thermostats that regulate the room temperature based on actual and setpoint values; possibly supported by additional sensors that recognise open windows, for example.
• Motion or presence detectors that control light, temperature and ventilation based on the presence detected. Control temperature and ventilation based on detected presence.
• Light sources that can be controlled via smartphone and can also be regulated in terms of brightness and colour, for example.
• Robot hoovers that explore the room independently and can be started either manually or automatically.
• Devices with voice input that allow certain functions (lights, shutters, music, etc.) to be controlled.
• Security technology such as glass breakage detectors, cameras, door contacts, ..

All these devices are networked via different technologies by radio or cable. The recorded data, which is used to control comfort functions, for example, is either forwarded to other devices in the local network or sent via a cloud connection, where it is stored and processed. There are also often hybrid approaches that rely on both local networking and enable additional functions via a cloud, although each manufacturer currently operates its own cloud infrastructures and different products are not always compatible.

The number of households with smart devices is increasing, as is the variety of different devices and technologies. In the near future, there will hardly be any non-smart devices without networking.