# Security Challenges for Users of Extensible Smart Home Hubs: A Systematic Literature Review
## 4 Discussion
### Future Research Directions  
This literature review has identified several security challenges, and future research should focus more on how to remedy many of these. For instance, [PERSON] et al. [26] performed a comparison of different open-source smart home hubs, providing a helpful guide for users selecting an open-source extensible smart home hub based on various aspects of the system. Building on this work, a detailed comparison of security features in popular hubs and the effectiveness of attack mitigation strategies could be conducted. This comparison would assist security-aware users in choosing the right system and contribute to the future development of security features for all smart home hubs.  
As highlighted in the key security challenges, many security risks in extensible smart home hubs, especially open-source ones, stem from user configuration. Developing a security dashboard that helps users identify and understand security risks in their setup could mitigate these risks. A proof-of-concept implementation of such a dashboard could be created and evaluated to determine its effectiveness in securing the hub and educating users, thereby enhancing their security awareness.  
[PERSON] et al. [31] suggested that a common limitation in security research is the lack of \"real life experiments\". To help address the security risks from user configuration, it could be beneficial to study real-world user behavior, UI design, and usability to inform the creation of effective awareness and configuration mechanisms. Additionally, it could be valuable to study and analyze the real-world complexity and effectiveness of security features suggested as solutions to security challenges by the included papers.  
Extensible smart home hubs often lack fine-grained access control, which is crucial for multi-user setups and less reputable extensions. Exploring the application of zero-trust principles from network security to develop fine-grained access control could be beneficial. A proof-of-concept implementation for Home Assistant, for instance, could be evaluated based on the threat model introduced by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [1], providing insight into its applicability and effectiveness.  
[PERSON] and [PERSON] [1] also demonstrated how Home Assistant could be exploited based on their threat model for extensible smart home hubs. Developing specific proofsof-exploit for each identified threat would further validate this work and provide metrics for future research aimed at mitigating these risks. This approach would improve the understanding of vulnerabilities and contribute to the development of more secure smart home systems. At the same time, ethical considerations must be properly addressed when creating proofs-of-exploits.  
This study focused almost exclusively on open-source extensible smart home hubs due to the availability and ease of access to information about them compared to their commercial counterparts. Further, the amount of in-depth research covering commercial hubs is minimal. Comparing the security challenges of open-source and commercial extensible smart home hubs and validating the results of this study with commercial systems could be worthwhile research opportunities.  
Behind every challenge that was identified in this review, countless examples of suggested solutions exist. Further research is required into these solutions' feasibility, performance, advantages, and drawbacks. We believe that the challenges this study identified can be helpful in this research by allowing researchers to use them in their analysis of these factors.