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Cybersecurity at home: Private households as underestimated risk

Written by Werner Riegler on

Smartphones, smart home systems, cloud services, and networked household appliances have long been an integral part of everyday life. However, while companies and government agencies can rely on established standards, defined processes, and existing expertise, IT security in the private sphere often remains unregulated: Insufficient know-how, shared passwords, and insecure configurations of shared devices significantly increase the digital risk in many families and shared households. Certitude Consulting conducted a study on behalf of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which shows that, in addition to attackers from the internet, internal power dynamics and digital violence play a particularly significant role in private households. Existing security measures often fail due to a lack of practicality in everyday use.

The study “IT Security Management in Households: Risks, Problems, Solutions (ISiH)” develops a structured approach to transfer established principles of information security management to multi-person households. A key finding: Digital security in the private sphere is a socio-technical interplay of technology, organization, and human behavior – and it is precisely at this intersection that security gaps frequently arise.

Structural risks in everyday digital life

With increasing connectivity through smartphones, cloud services, online accounts, and smart home technologies, the potential attack surface also grows. Unlike in organizations, protective measures in the private sphere are, if implemented at all, only reactively, situationally, or intuitively.

The study identifies several risk factors that frequently occur simultaneously in many households:

  • Shared devices without user separation
  • Shared passwords for personal accounts
  • Inadequate access control
  • Digital gender gap with significantly different technical skills
  • Organizational gaps and unclear responsibilities

The situation becomes particularly critical when a single person controls central digital infrastructure such as routers, family cloud storage, or smart home applications. This increases dependence on that individual and also creates potential for internal conflict and abuse, including digital violence and surveillance. Often, this abuse occurs after a separation or a conflict within the relationship.

These dependencies arise when the friendship or family relationship is still intact. As a sign of trust or affection, or simply for convenience, login credentials are shared and devices are used jointly. In the event of conflict, the victims are often unaware of this extensive access and its potential consequences. The digital gender gap is an expression of structural inequality. Due to conventional divisions of labor, women often lack the time to deal with IT and digital security issues in the home environment.

52 measures for greater digital resilience

The study also aimed to develop a practical concept for systematically analyzing and realistically designing IT security for multi-person households. Instead of designing new technologies, Certitude examined proven technical and organizational measures from the business context for their transferability and applicability in everyday life.

As a basis, the team identified 52 specific security measures in key areas such as account security and authentication, user devices, home networks, data security, and IoT and smart home environments. The evaluation included factors such as benefit, effort, and practical feasibility, using a model household with different age groups, skill levels, and usage scenarios.

Building on this, an independent risk analysis concept for private households was developed. Unlike classic models that are based on business processes, the approach created is directly oriented towards the informational values ​​of a household and enables a systematic identification and prioritization of effective protective measures, taking individual circumstances into account.

Many proven security measures can, in principle, be applied to private households. However, their effectiveness depends crucially on whether they are understandable, accessible, and usable without in-depth technical knowledge. This is precisely why ‘usable security’ – that is, security that is accepted and applied – becomes a key factor.

Security is a shared responsibility

A key finding of the study is that sustainable IT security can only be achieved if responsibilities and scope for action are clearly defined. Households can make an important contribution through routines and conscious behavioral changes, but they must not be left to tackle this task alone.

The recommendations therefore address three levels simultaneously:

  • Individual level: Households should clearly define responsibilities, consciously assign administrative rights, use a password manager and different passwords for each service, consistently separate personal and shared use, and systematically promote the digital skills of all members. A lived security culture can help establish protective measures as a natural part of everyday life and strengthen digital self-determination. Furthermore, sharing passwords should be avoided – it’s not a suitable expression of affection!
  • Technical level: Manufacturers make a significant contribution to the practical implementation of IT security. Digital products should be consistently developed according to the principles of Security by Design, Security by Default, and Usable Security – with secure default settings, automatic updates, modern encryption, clear rights management, logging and notification of access attempts or changes, as well as intuitive and accessible user interfaces. Security must be an integral part of the architecture and should not depend on the users’ own initiative.
  • Regulatory level: To strengthen IT security in the long term, binding minimum standards for digital products are just as necessary as transparent labeling that provides guidance for consumers. In addition, the expansion of digital education is needed to establish IT security competence early and broadly in society.

The EU recently took an important step forward with the Cyber ​​Resilience Act (CRA). This EU regulation obliges manufacturers to implement cybersecurity measures for digital products intended for the EU market. The regulation has already been adopted, and the first obligations for manufacturers and importers will apply from September 11, 2026. All requirements must be met by December 11, 2027.

Von der Analyse zum praktischen Werkzeug

As part of the project, a prototype for a risk analysis specifically tailored to multi-person households was also developed. In the future, this could lead to an interactive web- or app-based tool that helps users assess their individual risk levels and provides concrete recommendations for action.

The study results are therefore not only a scientific contribution but also a catalyst for digital consumer protection, product development, and security policy initiatives. Vulnerabilities in the private sphere have long since extended beyond the individual household—affecting the economy, public administration, and the overall stability of digital infrastructures.

The study “IT Security Management in Households: Risks, Problems, Solutions (ISiH)” is now available on the BSI website (German). Additional information (German) is available, including the BSI’s basic protection recommendations, guidance on smart home security, and orientation guides for parents.

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