In hardware terms, the Core is basically a high-performance router in a cool-looking shell. Your thermostat likely doesn’t have the processor power to run robust malware checks, but the Core does, and since it sits between the devices and the wider internet, it also has the power to block and quarantine devices as soon as something fishy turns up. Instead of trying to secure devices one by one, the Core solves the problem at the network level, using the router as a hub to monitor traffic from every device at once. Arriving this summer, the Norton Core is pitched as a single device that will keep your smart things in line. Today, Norton announced a new approach to the problem: building a better router. And since those aren’t the kind of problems you can fix with a software patch, the security world has been at a loss for what to do. That combination makes them easy targets for hackers, who can use the devices to build botnets or launch ransomware attacks. There are more and less secure devices, but they all share the same basic weaknesses: they’re underpowered, making it hard to implement serious security systems, and their basic functions require them to accept requests from anywhere on the web. The Mirai botnet attacks drove the point home in October, but security experts have been warning about these weaknesses for years, providing endless demos about how a hacker might break into your baby monitor or seize control of your thermostat. The Internet of Things is a security problem.

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