An Analysis of Home IoT Network Traffic and Behaviour

Abstract: Internet-connected devices are increasingly present in our homes, and privacy breaches, data thefts, and security threats are becoming commonplace. In order to avoid these, we must first understand the behaviour of these devices. In this work, we analyse network traces from a testbed of common IoT devices, and describe general methods for fingerprinting their behavior. We then use the information and insights derived from this data to assess where privacy and security risks manifest themselves, as well as how device behavior affects bandwidth. We demonstrate simple measures that circumvent attempts at securing devices and protecting privacy.