GE Appliances Product Cybersecurity

Security is ingrained in our business culture and in the way we developed your connected appliance, mobile app, and cloud. It's a business policy that security is "built-in" to every aspect of our process and during all phases of development, manufacturing, and maintenance.

Security controls to protect appliance data, user authentication and authorization, and how the system will be securely maintained are integrated into the functional features. The software meets industry best practice coding standards and is developed by the Test-Driven Development software method. Any third-party and open-source software is analyzed for security and the safety of your appliance and data. Extensive software security and performance testing is performed. Security penetration testing on the appliance, mobile app, and cloud is done regularly. For protection, software updates are released to ensure the appliance, mobile app, and cloud have the latest software.

By default, your appliance is secure without any user configuration or specific router settings. Every connected appliance has all security features enabled when the appliance is first connected. Your appliance connects to your Wi-Fi router using the WPA3 network security protocol, with WPA2 as the minimum supported protocol. The appliance does this even if your router is not set to this configuration. That's just one example of how Security by Default is engineered into your appliance.

Every component of the appliance and its IoT ecosystem has security controls that provide independent redundancy to protect against malicious attacks. We ensure these security controls are implemented in layers for data protection at rest and in transit. This layered approach strengthens the security of the appliance, mobile app, and cloud.

If your SSID is not unique, GE Wi-Fi appliances may have trouble identifying your network or automatically connecting to your network.

It is suggested that strong passwords be used, conforming at a minimum to the following rules:

• At least eight characters long
• Does not contain your name, email address, or other personal identification
• Does not contain a complete word
• Contains characters from all of the following four categories:
  
  • Uppercase Letters
  • Lowercase Letters
  • Numbers
  • Symbols found on the keyboard

It is further recommended to use passphrases for passwords. Passphrases are typically easier to remember and can meet all of the recommended length and character category requirements.

Although convenient, it is recommended not to use them at all. Use passphrases for passwords as they tend to be easier to remember.

The most common home wireless network configurations are: Open, WEP, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3. Choose WPA3 or at a minimum, WPA2, for the highest level of protection. Open (or unsecured mode) does not provide authentication or encryption. If you use this security mode, anyone in close proximity to your Wi-Fi network will be able to join your network, use your Internet connection, and access any shared resources. In addition, they will be able to read much of the data you send over the network. For these reasons, this Wi-Fi mode is highly discouraged. WEP (Wired Equivalency Protocol) provided protection through encryption when it was first introduced in 1999. Unfortunately, tools are now commonly available that allow an attacker to break into a WEP network in a matter of seconds. For this reason, WEP should also be avoided. As one of the most robust forms of security offered by Wi-Fi products today, WPA3 (Wireless Protected Access) or WPA2 is strongly recommended. When using either WPA2 or WPA3, use the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) option as it is preferred. For WPA3, it is recommended to use the SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals) authentication exchange, which uses AES. Please refer to your router manufacturer’s documentation or contact your local network service provider for help to ensure that your Wi-Fi network is adequately secured.

Review the URL before you click and go to known and trusted Internet sites. If the URL looks funny, do not click it. A lot of untrusted URLs are variants of trusted ones, with words that at first glance seem they are spelled correctly but actually are not. Be sure and review the URL address completely.

Verify the source that sent you the attachment before you open it. If you cannot verify the source, don't open the attachment.

Keep your smart phone(s) and tablet(s) up to date with security updates provided by the manufacturer. Please refer to your device's operating system and software application manufacturers for appropriate guidance.

Ensure that your smart devices always have a screen lock password and are set to automatically enter a locked state after a short period of inactivity.

Security experts recommend creating separate and secure networks dedicated for your IoT devices that are separate from your network used for banking or e-commerce activities or that which handles your most private and sensitive data. You can further segregate your networks based on the IoT device itself. There are two methods for this when using one Internet connection, (1) using one router and set up a “guest access” or a “guest network” within the router settings or (2) use separate routers paired with your Internet connection. If you choose to set up a guest network, ensure the password for the guest network is strong and, if available, ensure that access to local network resources is turned off, this may also be called “isolate”.