The solution is to allow local interfaces (matter, HTTP, etc) but most company cybersecurity teams just freak out at this.
Oh, and the reason we don't have a full time team managing HA is like I said.. addressable market versus FAANG/Samsung.
It takes a full time person (persons) to manage Alexa, Google, Samsung, etc.
I've long advocated a local HTTP interface for our products, but usually a losing battle.
A lot of the worst IoT vulnerabilities in the past have been due to exactly that. 'Local' unfortunately isn't something decided at design time, it's decided when someone connects it to a network. Most people plugging these devices in don't have any clue how to simultaneously secure them and connect them to the internet, so they often end up directly on the internet with default credentials or with outdated vulnerable software and a port open. That's the biggest reason all of the major players now just close all inbound ports and reach outbound to a cloud service. It checks both boxes of usability and network security with even the most misguided user.
Yes, this arrangement sucks for people who know better. But we aren't the people in the user stories.
It's obviously connected to the public internet when it talks to cloud servers, and that's somehow (claimed to be) secure.
Comparing a good cloud API with a poorly designed local API is a false dichotomy. Would you set up your cloud servers with default credentials of admin:admin?
Have a hidden physical switch that toggles local control, and require a physical button press to (re-)generate secure credentials. Have the user upload TLS certificates (non-optional), then hand over the credentials over a secure connection. There, the security of local API should now be up to par with the cloud connection.
Asking why a Haier dishwasher doesn't have a local API is like asking why a Toyota Sienna doesn't have configurable launch control, power-take-off, or a fifth-wheel. The target market segment isn't looking for those features.
And I don't dispute that, this option should remain available. What I dispute is the idea that the lack of local control is somehow beneficial to the end user by "protecting" them from vulnerabilities.
The only thing such arrangement is protecting is the manufacturer's bottom line, by allowing them to 1. harvest and sell data, 2. take away features or start pushing upsells when they need to boost their quarterly profits.
> Asking why a Haier dishwasher doesn't have a local API is like asking why a Toyota Sienna doesn't have configurable launch control, power-take-off, or a fifth-wheel.
Well that's just ridiculous, all of those features have significant per-unit cost to implement. Exposing some form of local control would take, if we're being generous, a couple of person-weeks of effort and it would cover the entire product line with a marginal per-unit cost of a single switch.