IJIEEB Vol. 18, No. 3, 8 Jun. 2026
Cover page and Table of Contents: PDF (size: 806KB)
PDF (806KB), PP.185-202
Views: 0 Downloads: 0
Internet of Things, Smart Homes, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Intrusion Detection, Blockchain, Edge Computing, Iot Technologies
The advent of (Internet of Things) IoT technologies has essentially transformed traditional houses into intelligent, equipped, and networked smart houses that serve to improve the quality in the lives of human beings with respect to security, energy efficiency, and comfort through massive automation, sensing, and remote control. However, with such a shift of paradigm, due to the diversity of devices, the limitation of resources, problems of interoperability, and a growing array of cyberthreats, opens up numerous avenues for security and privacy threats. This review attempts a holistic coverage of IoT-based smart home technologies and then provides a systematic classification of the security vulnerabilities from device, network, cloud, and application layers. The key threats include unauthorized access, data leakage, propagation of malware, denial of service, and exploits targeted against AI, with an analysis of their causes and occurrences in the real world. The paper undertakes a critical assessment of contemporary countermeasures, ranging from lightweight cryptographic protocols, AI-driven intrusion detection systems, blockchain-based authentication, privacy-preserving edge computing, and zero-trust frameworks. A comparative insight into each approach conversed with the views of the established literature draws out trade-offs between security efficacy, scalability, computational overheads, and user adoption. Based on a synthesis of the modern findings, continued gaps are identified, and future directions provided: including quantum-resistant encryption, interoperable standards, and user-centric security design, acting as the working platform or actionable directions for any researchers, developers, or policymakers in building of secure, resilient, and privacy preserving smart home ecosystem.
Tanvir Ahmed, Akhterujjaman Siddiquee, Sheikh Sidratul Muntaha Punno, Moshiur Rahman, Fahmida Ahmed Antara, Sadia Enam, "IoT-Based Smart Homes: Technologies, Security Risks and Countermeasures", International Journal of Information Engineering and Electronic Business(IJIEEB), Vol.18, No.3, pp. 185-202, 2026. DOI:10.5815/ijieeb.2026.03.11
[1]G. Vardakis, G. Hatzivasilis, E. Koutsaki, and N. Papadakis, "Review of smart-home security using the Internet of Things," Electronics, vol. 13, no. 16, p. 3343, 2024.
[2]K. Y. Najmi, M. A. AlZain, M. Masud, N. Z. Jhanjhi, J. Al-Amri, and M. Baz, "A survey on security threats and countermeasures in IoT to achieve users confidentiality and reliability," Materials Today: Proceedings, vol. 81, pp. 377–382, 2023.
[3]A. Acar, H. Fereidooni, T. Abera, A. K. Sikder, M. Miettinen, H. Aksu, M. Conti, A. R. Sadeghi, and S. Uluagac, "Peek-a-boo: I see your smart home activities, even encrypted!," in Proceedings of the 13th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks, pp. 207–218, 2020.
[4]F. Alsakran, G. Bendiab, S. Shiaeles, and N. Kolokotronis, "Intrusion detection systems for smart home IoT devices: experimental comparison study," in Int. Symp. on Security in Computing and Communication, pp. 87–98, Springer, 2019.
[5]S. F. Ahmed, S. S. Shawon, A. Bhuyian, S. Afrin, A. Mehjabin, S. A. Kuldeep, M. S. B. Alam, and A. H. Gandomi, "Forensics and security issues in the Internet of Things," Wireless Networks, pp. 1–36, 2025.
[6]H. Pourrahmani, A. Yavarinasab, A. M. H. Monazzah, et al., "A review of the security vulnerabilities and countermeasures in the Internet of Things solutions: A bright future for the blockchain," Internet of Things, vol. 23, p. 100888, 2023.
[7]M. Moniruzzaman, S. Khezr, A. Yassine, and R. Benlamri, "Blockchain for smart homes: Review of current trends and research challenges," Computers & Electrical Engineering, vol. 83, p. 106585, 2020.
[8]E. Fernandes, J. Jung, and A. Prakash, "Security analysis of emerging smart home applications," in 2016 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP), pp. 636–654, 2016.
[9]B. Yuan, F. Wu, and Z. Zheng, "Post quantum blockchain architecture for Internet of Things over NTRU lattice," PLOS ONE, vol. 18, no. 2, p. e0279429, 2023.
[10]G. Iovane, "A multi-layer quantum-resilient IoT security architecture integrating uncertainty reasoning, relativistic blockchain, and decentralised storage," Applied Sciences, vol. 15, no. 16, 2025.
[11]F. Ye, Z. Zhou, and Y. Li, "Quantum-assisted blockchain for IoT based on quantum signature," Quantum Information Processing, vol. 21, no. 9, p. 327, 2022.
[12]W. Sarada, K. V. Prashanth, A. B. Mary, K. Premkumar, V. P. Vijayan, et al., "IoT in smart homes: Enhancing lifestyle through intelligent automation and control," in 2025 Int. Conf. on Automation and Computation (AUTOCOM), pp. 336–341, IEEE, 2025.
[13]Y. Chen, H. Zhang, and S. Zhong, "Design and implementation of smart home system based on IoT," Results in Engineering, vol. 24, p. 103410, 2024.
[14]S. F. Islam, M. I. Hasan, M. Akter, and M. S. Uddin, "Implementation and analysis of an IoT-based home automation framework," Journal of Computer and Communications, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 143–157, 2021.
[15]Y. Meidan, M. Bohadana, A. Mathov, S. Mirsky, D. Breitenbacher, A. Shabtai, and Y. Elovici, "N-BaIoT: Network-Based Detection of IoT Botnet Attacks Using Deep Autoencoders," IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 56, no. 9, pp. 172–179, 2018.
[16]M. G. Anduinta Rhizma and C. Suhendar, "Home security and fire detection system design using IoT-based microcontroller ATmega2560," GCISTEM Proceeding, vol. 1, pp. 1–9, 2022.
[17]S. A. Devi, M. Sitha Ram, K. Ranganarayana, D. Babu Rao, and V. Rachapudi, "Smart home system using voice command with integration of ESP8266," in 2022 Int. Conf. on Applied Artificial Intelligence and Computing (ICAAIC), pp. 1535–1539, IEEE, 2022.
[18]W. A. Alonazi, H. Hamdi, N. A. Azim, and A. A. Abd El-Aziz, "SDN architecture for smart homes security with machine learning and deep learning," Int. J. of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, vol. 13, no. 10, 2022.
[19]M. Umer, S. Sadiq, R. M. Alhebshi, M. F. Sabir, S. Alsubai, A. A. Hejaili, M. M. Khayyat, A. E. Eshmawi, and A. Mohamed, "IoT based smart home automation using blockchain and deep learning models," PeerJ Computer Science, vol. 9, p. e1332, 2023.
[20]A. Aldahmani, B. Ouni, T. Lestable, and M. Debbah, "Cyber-security of embedded IoTs in smart homes: challenges, requirements, countermeasures, and trends," IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology, vol. 4, pp. 281–292, 2023.
[21]H. Alam and E. Tomai, "Security attacks and countermeasures in smart homes," Int. Journal on Cybernetics & Informatics (IJCI), vol. 12, no. 12, p. 109, 2023.
[22]C. Kolias, G. Kambourakis, A. Stavrou, and J. Voas, "DDoS in the IoT: Mirai and other botnets," Computer, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 80–84, 2017.
[23]B. K. Sovacool and D. D. F. Del Rio, "Smart home technologies in Europe: A critical review of concepts, benefits, risks and policies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 120, p. 109663, 2020.
[24]R. Faizrakhmanov, A. Platunov, and M. R. Bahrami, "Smart home user interface: Overview," in 2023 Int. Conf. on Industrial Engineering, Applications and Manufacturing (ICIEAM), pp. 595–600, IEEE, 2023.
[25]S. P. Toufighi, J. Vang, A. M. Norouzzadeh, and A. Edalatipour, "Adoption of Internet of Things in residential smart homes: A structural equation modeling approach," Sustainable Futures, vol. 9, p. 100665, 2025.
[26]N. Balta-Ozkan, R. Davidson, M. Bicket, and L. Whitmarsh, "Social barriers to the adoption of smart homes," Energy Policy, vol. 63, pp. 363–374, 2013.
[27]C. Wilson, T. Hargreaves, and R. Hauxwell-Baldwin, "Benefits and risks of smart home technologies," Energy Policy, vol. 103, pp. 72–83, 2017.
[28]A. Al-Fuqaha, M. Guizani, M. Mohammadi, M. Aledhari, and M. Ayyash, "Internet of Things: A Survey on Enabling Technologies, Protocols, and Applications," IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 2347–2376, 2015.
[29]C. Wilson, T. Hargreaves, and R. Hauxwell-Baldwin, "Smart homes and their users: A systematic analysis and key challenges," Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 19, pp. 463–476, 2015.
[30]D. Miorandi, S. Sicari, F. De Pellegrini, and I. Chlamtac, "Internet of things: Vision, applications and research challenges," Ad Hoc Networks, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 1497–1516, 2012.
[31]E. Zeng, S. Mare, and F. Roesner, "End user security & privacy concerns with smart homes," in Proc. 13th USENIX Conf. on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), pp. 65–80, 2017.
[32]M. Msgna, "Anatomy of attacks on IoT systems: review of attacks, impacts and countermeasures," Journal of Surveillance, Security and Safety, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 150–173, 2022.
[33]M. K. Alzaylaee, "A Systematic Review of Security Vulnerabilities in Smart Home Devices and Mitigation Techniques," IJCSNS, vol. 25, no. 3, p. 206, 2025.
[34]N. Fatima, M. Ashraf, R. Tehseen, U. Omer, N. Sabahat, R. Javaid, M. Yousaf, M. Mehr, and A. Zaheer, "AI-powered phishing detection and mitigation for IoT-based smart home security," Journal of Computing & Biomedical Informatics, vol. 8, no. 01, 2024.
[35]D. Buil-Gil, S. Kemp, S. Kuenzel, L. Coventry, S. Zakhary, D. Tilley, and J. Nicholson, "The digital harms of smart home devices: A systematic literature review," Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 145, p. 107770, 2023.
[36]I. Holguin and S. M. Errapotu, "Smart home IoT communication protocols and advances in their security and interoperability," in 2023 7th Cyber Security in Networking Conference (CSNet), pp. 208–211, 2023.
[37]A. Girish, T. Hu, V. Prakash, D. J. Dubois, S. Matic, D. Y. Huang, S. Egelman, J. Reardon, J. Tapiador, D. Choffnes, and N. Vallina-Rodriguez, "In the room where it happens: Characterizing local communication and threats in smart homes," in Proc. 2023 ACM on Internet Measurement Conf. (IMC), pp. 437–456, 2023.
[38]B. Ali and A. I. Awad, "Cyber and physical security vulnerability assessment for IoT-based smart homes," Sensors, vol. 18, no. 3, p. 817, 2018.
[39]P. Sutar, S. A. Sarkar, A. Tagare, and A. Pawar, "A review on IoT-enabled smart homes using AI," in 2024 15th Int. Conf. on Computing Communication and Networking Technologies (ICCCNT), pp. 1–6, 2024.
[40]Y. M. Leong, E. H. Lim, and L. K. Lim, "A review of potential AI-based automation for IoT-enabled smart homes," in 2023 IEEE 13th Int. Conf. on System Engineering and Technology (ICSET), pp. 1–6, 2023.
[41]S. Kabir, P. Gope, and S. P. Mohanty, "A security-enabled safety assurance framework for IoT-based smart homes," IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 6–14, 2022.
[42]M. Kumar, R. K. Gupta, G. Jain, and P. Sharma, "Next-generation smart homes: An IoT approach to home automation and user experience," in 2024 Int. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computation-Based Sensor Application (ICAIQSA), pp. 1–6, 2024.
[43]M. Kertous, A. Zerroug, and N. Zerroug, "Review of technics used in smart house," in 2024 2nd Int. Conf. on Electrical Engineering and Automatic Control (ICEEAC), pp. 1–5, 2024.
[44]J. Wang and Y. C. Zhang, "A review on Internet of Things based smart home," in 2021 Int. Conf. on Culture-oriented Science & Technology (ICCST), pp. 273–277, 2021.
[45]A. Adhikary, S. Halder, R. Bose, S. Panja, S. Halder, J. Pratihar, and A. Dey, "Design and implementation of an IoT-based smart home automation system in real world scenario," EAI Endorsed Trans. on Internet of Things, vol. 10, pp. 1–8, 2024.
[46]B. Mustafa, M. W. Iqbal, M. Saeed, A. R. Shafqat, H. Sajjad, and M. R. Naqvi, "IoT based low-cost smart home automation system," in 2021 3rd Int. Congress on Human Computer Interaction, Optimization and Robotic Applications (HORA), pp. 1–6, IEEE, 2021.
[47]P. Franco, J. M. Martinez, Y.-C. Kim, and M. A. Ahmed, "IoT based approach for load monitoring and activity recognition in smart homes," IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 45325–45339, 2021.
[48]P. Franco, J. M. Martinez, Y.-C. Kim, and M. A. Ahmed, "A framework for IoT based appliance recognition in smart homes," IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 133940–133960, 2021.
[49]J. Oh, S. Yu, J. Lee, S. Son, M. Kim, and Y. Park, "A secure and lightweight authentication protocol for IoT-based smart homes," Sensors, vol. 21, no. 4, p. 1488, 2021.
[50]R. A. Mogbil, M. Alasqah, and S. Elkhediri, "IoT: Security challenges and issues of smart homes/cities," in 2020 Int. Conf. on Computing and Information Technology (ICCIT-1441), pp. 1–6, IEEE, 2020.
[51]K. Vijayaprabakaran, P. Kodidela, and P. Gurram, "IoT based smart intruder detection system for smart homes," Int. J. of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 48–53, 2021.
[52]B. Huang, H. Dong, and A. Bouguettaya, "Conflict detection in IoT-based smart homes," in 2021 IEEE Int. Conf. on Web Services (ICWS), pp. 303–313, IEEE, 2021.
[53]E. Zeng, S. Mare, and F. Roesner, "End user security and privacy concerns with smart homes," in Thirteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), pp. 65–80, 2017.
[54]P. Rashidi and D. J. Cook, "Keeping the resident in the loop: Adapting the smart home to the user," IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 949–959, 2009.
[55]A. Al-Fuqaha, M. Guizani, M. Mohammadi, M. Aledhari, and M. Ayyash, "Internet of things: A survey on enabling technologies, protocols, and applications," IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 2347–2376, 2015.
[56]M. Centenaro, L. Vangelista, A. Zanella, and M. Zorzi, "Long-Range Communications in Unlicensed Bands: the Rising Stars in the IoT," IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 23.
[57]C. Bormann, A. P. Castellani, and Z. Shelby, "Coap: An application protocol for billions of tiny internet nodes," IEEE Internet Computing, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 62–67, 2012.
[58]W. Shi, J. Cao, Q. Zhang, Y. Li, and L. Xu, "Edge computing: Vision and challenges," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 637–646, 2016.
[59]M. Chiang and T. Zhang, "Fog and IoT: An overview of research opportunities," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 854–864, 2016.
[60]K. Christidis and M. Devetsikiotis, "Blockchains and smart contracts for the internet of things," IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 2292–2303, 2016.
[61]N. Kalbo, Y. Mirsky, A. Shabtai, and Y. Elovici, "The security of IP-based video surveillance systems," Sensors, vol. 20, no. 17, p. 4806, 2020.
[62]L. Schmidt, H. Hosseini, and T. Hupperich, "Assessing the security and privacy of baby monitor apps," Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 303–326, 2023.