Smart Home Alone - Keep your home secure when you're not there

The Dangers of Home Security Systems: A Real-World Scare

As I sat at my desk, sipping on a cup of coffee and browsing through some security footage from one of our recent reviews, something strange caught my attention. It was a group of burglars who thought they had found a way to outsmart the latest smart home security system we had reviewed. They approached the house, trying to be stealthy, but their plans were quickly foiled by the system's advanced sensors and cameras.

At first, it seemed like just another normal night for the burglars. They would try to find an open window or a way in through the garage door, and then wait for the perfect moment to strike. But what they didn't realize was that our smart home security system had some tricks up its sleeve. The outdoor lights were on timers with simple smart plugs, making it easy to control when they turned on and off. The indoor lights were also controlled by smart light bulbs or switches, with a routine set to turn them on at specific times.

As the burglars approached the house, they noticed that the floodlights turned on suddenly, illuminating their entire path. They tried to approach cautiously, but it was too late. The motion sensors near the door triggered the sprinklers, soaking the burglars and sending them running for cover. It was a clever trap, and one that had been set up by our smart home security system.

But the burglars didn't give up easily. They realized that they had been outsmarted by the system and decided to try again. This time, they were more aggressive, smashing the window on the top floor of the house in an attempt to get inside. But once again, their plans were foiled by the system's advanced sensors. The glass break sensor was triggered, sending a notification to our smart home security app.

As it turned out, one of our burglars had actually recognized some of us from grandma's game night and from other places he knew. So as he smashed the window, i jumped up startled shouting "Oh no that's legend cnet host ayas"

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the cnet smart home these two have been casing the joint for weeks and i'm about to leave on vacation it's the holidays fortunately i've set up the house to defend itself so i feel more than comfortable leaving the smart home alone i set up a handful of routines to trigger a wide variety of connected gadgets and now that my suitcase is all packed i am ready to take off i'm leaving things in the very capable hands of legendary cnet anchor is actar thanks for your help bias i'll see you later the duo known as the dry bandits so called since they leave your home high and dry will almost certainly try to break in and steal my stuff but i think my home can take it so i'm not worried we'll progress through three nights or rounds with the dry bandits getting progressively more desperate each time and i'll of course narrate through the whole thing in case you want similar products so you can pull off shenanigans on your own the clever dry bandits undoubtedly saw me toss my suitcase in the car and take off tonight it begins they approach cautiously at first they notice that the outdoor lights are on and hesitate as they see indoor lights turn off in one room and on in the next maybe a neighbor is visiting they think they roam a bit keeping their distance they gradually approach the garage just to check the door but are startled when the flood lights turn on stuck like a deer in the headlights at first the siren does enough to startle and scare them back into the night let's rewind a little bit outdoor lights are easy enough to put on a timer with a simple smart plug make sure you find one rated for the weather if you're putting it outside you'd think the indoor lights bit is trickier but it's really not you just need smart light bulbs or smart switches and a routine have the kitchen lights turn off and the living room lights turn on at 8. do the same with the living room and the bedroom at 10 or 11. if you keep your blinds closed and have some simple light routines in place that'll be the end of it for most burglars outdoor floodlight cams like this one provide a nice bit of extra insurance you can set up motion alerts have it record events and have it flip on the light when it detects something this one even comes with a siren built in that's nice and loud and again for realistic scenarios this much tech should scare away the vast majority of crimes of convenience the persistent dry bandits notice the lights turn on at the same time as the previous night and realized they were just looking at connected tech they think they'll be able to fool it tonight now that they know what they're dealing with we'll see to get around the flood lights they're approaching from the yard and will try the doors in back they think they actually see a figure moving in the lights and stop in their tracks they try to move silently to get a closer look but it's not the sound that gives them away motion sensors near the door trigger the sprinklers and the burglars realize the trap too late and are met with a wet end to their dry run damp and discouraged they again flee into the night this time they know where the sprinklers are they know where the floodlights are they know no one has come in or out so the figure moving and the light must have just been another trick this time they're gonna get aggressive and they're taking their target down if at all possible i know they're coming back i'm dialed in from grandma's game on after navigating through the yard and past the motion detectors carefully they're done being stealthy they smash the window on the top floor by the deck i get an alert thanks to the glass break sensors but i already know they're here still they crossed a line time to fight back for real something really weird's going on don't you know who that is that's legendary cnet host and teen heartthrob i has actor that's just cardboard you don't understand even cardboard is the strength of a thousand men are you oh serious should mention that most home security setups allow you to send notifications to friends and neighbors and more oh hi i live right next door i will end you you can even alert your favorite holiday wish granter if you have santa's number that is he's the naughty one i swear so a few things all the products featured in the video are actually real but we definitely dramatized some of the specifics as you might imagine especially on the last night and if thieves are trying to break into your house don't use your smart technology to mess with them just call 9-1-1 in fact a lot of the security systems we like also offer professional monitoring that can help you do that so while we don't recommend some of the specifics we do recommend some of the actual products we used and we've linked to those below as well as to some of our actual reviews and our roundups also you probably shouldn't print out a full body cardboard out of is and put it on your robot vacuum probably it will make your vacuum less able to fit under stuff but on the other hand eyes is awesome comment below to let me know what you think actually happened to that second bandit was the sprinkler spraying so forcefully that it actually knocked him unconscious if so how come he was continuing to move forward did the sprinkler melt him they are called the dry bandits but if so how come he didn't melt after they got sprayed that second night these are the deep philosophical questions that i need your help to get to the bottom of thanks for watching please hit that thumbs up button if you enjoyed the video and subscribe to cnet's youtube channel for more most of which will be nothing like this but we'll have actual useful information about technology special thanks to our burglars dave and chris to neighbor aaron to megan claus and to the legend himself mr ayas and from all of us here at the cnet smart home happy holidays youthis is the cnet smart home these two have been casing the joint for weeks and i'm about to leave on vacation it's the holidays fortunately i've set up the house to defend itself so i feel more than comfortable leaving the smart home alone i set up a handful of routines to trigger a wide variety of connected gadgets and now that my suitcase is all packed i am ready to take off i'm leaving things in the very capable hands of legendary cnet anchor is actar thanks for your help bias i'll see you later the duo known as the dry bandits so called since they leave your home high and dry will almost certainly try to break in and steal my stuff but i think my home can take it so i'm not worried we'll progress through three nights or rounds with the dry bandits getting progressively more desperate each time and i'll of course narrate through the whole thing in case you want similar products so you can pull off shenanigans on your own the clever dry bandits undoubtedly saw me toss my suitcase in the car and take off tonight it begins they approach cautiously at first they notice that the outdoor lights are on and hesitate as they see indoor lights turn off in one room and on in the next maybe a neighbor is visiting they think they roam a bit keeping their distance they gradually approach the garage just to check the door but are startled when the flood lights turn on stuck like a deer in the headlights at first the siren does enough to startle and scare them back into the night let's rewind a little bit outdoor lights are easy enough to put on a timer with a simple smart plug make sure you find one rated for the weather if you're putting it outside you'd think the indoor lights bit is trickier but it's really not you just need smart light bulbs or smart switches and a routine have the kitchen lights turn off and the living room lights turn on at 8. do the same with the living room and the bedroom at 10 or 11. if you keep your blinds closed and have some simple light routines in place that'll be the end of it for most burglars outdoor floodlight cams like this one provide a nice bit of extra insurance you can set up motion alerts have it record events and have it flip on the light when it detects something this one even comes with a siren built in that's nice and loud and again for realistic scenarios this much tech should scare away the vast majority of crimes of convenience the persistent dry bandits notice the lights turn on at the same time as the previous night and realized they were just looking at connected tech they think they'll be able to fool it tonight now that they know what they're dealing with we'll see to get around the flood lights they're approaching from the yard and will try the doors in back they think they actually see a figure moving in the lights and stop in their tracks they try to move silently to get a closer look but it's not the sound that gives them away motion sensors near the door trigger the sprinklers and the burglars realize the trap too late and are met with a wet end to their dry run damp and discouraged they again flee into the night this time they know where the sprinklers are they know where the floodlights are they know no one has come in or out so the figure moving and the light must have just been another trick this time they're gonna get aggressive and they're taking their target down if at all possible i know they're coming back i'm dialed in from grandma's game on after navigating through the yard and past the motion detectors carefully they're done being stealthy they smash the window on the top floor by the deck i get an alert thanks to the glass break sensors but i already know they're here still they crossed a line time to fight back for real something really weird's going on don't you know who that is that's legendary cnet host and teen heartthrob i has actor that's just cardboard you don't understand even cardboard is the strength of a thousand men are you oh serious should mention that most home security setups allow you to send notifications to friends and neighbors and more oh hi i live right next door i will end you you can even alert your favorite holiday wish granter if you have santa's number that is he's the naughty one i swear so a few things all the products featured in the video are actually real but we definitely dramatized some of the specifics as you might imagine especially on the last night and if thieves are trying to break into your house don't use your smart technology to mess with them just call 9-1-1 in fact a lot of the security systems we like also offer professional monitoring that can help you do that so while we don't recommend some of the specifics we do recommend some of the actual products we used and we've linked to those below as well as to some of our actual reviews and our roundups also you probably shouldn't print out a full body cardboard out of is and put it on your robot vacuum probably it will make your vacuum less able to fit under stuff but on the other hand eyes is awesome comment below to let me know what you think actually happened to that second bandit was the sprinkler spraying so forcefully that it actually knocked him unconscious if so how come he was continuing to move forward did the sprinkler melt him they are called the dry bandits but if so how come he didn't melt after they got sprayed that second night these are the deep philosophical questions that i need your help to get to the bottom of thanks for watching please hit that thumbs up button if you enjoyed the video and subscribe to cnet's youtube channel for more most of which will be nothing like this but we'll have actual useful information about technology special thanks to our burglars dave and chris to neighbor aaron to megan claus and to the legend himself mr ayas and from all of us here at the cnet smart home happy holidays you\n"