New technologies that allow users to control important home devices, such as appliances and security systems, from their phones also give creative hackers plenty of opportunity to hijack and glean information from these "smart" devices. It sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie (and in fact, it has been) but these devices have surprisingly few security features and can give over a shocking amount of information and control to those who might wish to do their users harm.

Good-guy hackers have proven again and again that they can hack into smart devices. Not only are Instagram they playfully scaring users by becoming digital poltergeists, but on a more serious note, they have found that they could orchestrate break-ins and harvest valuable personal data.

One security company investigated smart home thermostats and found that they were, in fact, hackable. The hackers found that they could peek into users' web history, the times when they were and were not home, and other crucial information that you wouldn't want a hacker to know.

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