FREE 2-MINUTE SELF-ASSESSMENT

How Exposed Is Your Homelab? — IoT Security News Quiz

Key figure: Reported cybercrime losses in the United States reached $16.6 billion in 2024, up 33% from 2023 (FBI IC3, 2024 Internet Crime Report).

Your homelab is a production network that happens to live in your house — and attackers treat it that way. This 10-question quiz grades your exposure across remote access, patching, segmentation, and backups. IoT security news is full of compromised home servers recruited into botnets; most owners never notice until the ISP calls.

Why is IoT security news full of homelab breaches?

Home labs combine the worst of both worlds: internet-facing services like a business, but the patching discipline of a hobby. Default credentials, unpatched services, and flat networks make them ideal botnet recruits and pivot points into home devices. Attackers scan the entire internet continuously, so an exposed service is typically found within hours of going online. The quiz checks the exact mistakes that show up in breach reports.

What is an attack surface?

Your attack surface is the sum of every point where an attacker could try to enter your systems — open ports, login pages, exposed APIs, and unpatched services. Every service you expose to the internet adds to it.

10 honest questions about your self-hosted setup. Get a plain-English exposure rating and the three fixes that matter most. No signup, nothing installed, your answers never leave this page.

The 10 questions

1. Are all of your self-hosted apps updated to their latest versions?

2. Is SSH (port 22) directly reachable from the internet on your server?

3. Do you use the default admin passwords on any service, router, or app?

4. Is your Nextcloud / media server / dashboard behind HTTPS with a valid certificate?

5. Do you run the "built-in" all-in-one versions of apps (like Nextcloud's built-in Collabora CODE server)?

6. When did you last check your server logs for suspicious activity?

7. Do you have automated, tested backups of your data?

8. Is two-factor authentication enabled on your admin accounts?

9. Are any services exposed to the internet that only you use (admin panels, databases, dashboards)?

10. Do you know which CVEs affect the software versions you are running?

Scan your actual server free → BreachHunter

This quiz rates your habits. BreachHunter checks your real server for known exposures in 30 seconds. No signup.

FAQ

What is the single biggest homelab exposure?

Internet-facing services that only you use — admin panels, databases, SSH on port 22. Anything reachable from the open internet is scanned within hours, so keep private services behind a VPN or Tailscale.

How often should self-hosted apps be updated?

Within days of a release for anything internet-facing. Unpatched applications are the most common entry point attackers find in automated scans.

Are backups part of homelab security?

Yes. Automated, tested restores are the difference between a bad weekend and a catastrophe — backups that have never been restored are not really backups.

FROM INGENIOUS AI
Ingenious AI builds 11 AI security platforms — disclosure compliance, rogue-agent defense, breach hunting, agent oversight, and more.
All 11 platforms: DisclosureGuard  ·  ModelMinder  ·  TermsWatch  ·  Vibe-Code Audit  ·  Rogue-Agent Defense  ·  BreachHunter  ·  ChatBreaker  ·  Agent Flight Recorder  ·  Agent Auth Gateway  ·  DomainGuard  ·  ContentCraft AI
Our platforms are being upgraded and return November 1 — get early access now:
Get early access on WhatsApp →
Share this quiz: XLinkedInReddit

Related checks