Anyone planning to outfit their residence with smart home technology should keep data security as a top priority when choosing which system to go with. The biggest concern: Making sure that no external parties are able to penetrate the home protection system.

Building experts in Germany recommend that potential customers question all smart home functions: Do you really need that feature? And if so, does it absolutely have to be connected to the Internet?

The most basic advice is to make sure to change the preset passwords for commercial smart home solutions right after installation. These passwords are often easy to guess and don't protect from intruders.

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security recommends a password with at least eight characters, including a mix of special characters, numbers, and upper and lowercase letters. In general, the advice for making secure passwords is the longer, the better.

If a homeowner chooses to hire a specialised company for their home security, they should ask lots of questions about who exactly is taking care of the system: Who maintains the system, possibly from the outside? What hardware and software will be installed? Who will ensure that it's updated regularly? Who has the passwords?

People who are unsure, or especially cautious, should seek the advice of independent experts if they have any doubts about the company, and then decide who to hire to install the system, says the office.

 - dpa