It may sound like a plot from an Ocean's Eleven reboot, but in April this year a vulnerability discovered in the thermostat of a casino fish tank gave jackers access to its high-roller database. The offending piece of supposedly smart tech was used to regulate water temperature of an aquarium installed in the lobby. But its internet connection - the same connection casino staff probably thought was a useful feature when installing the thermostat - presented hackers with an open pathway to the business's servers.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices like this thermostat tend to have relatively poor security compared to other web-connected devices like your smartphone and laptop. Their makers don't always expect seemingly uninteresting devices to fall into hacker's crosshairs, but when hooked up to a network shared by more valuable devices (like servers), they become an easy target.

To help protect your network against these sorts of attacks - whether that network is at home or a part of your business - you should consider a router built especially to protect IoT devices. The CUJO, for example, acts as a firewall to keep your IoT devices protected by attaching to your existing router, while D-Link partnered with McAfee to product the AC2600, a router with IoT and smart home security in mind.