Your stuff may be increasingly “smart,” but the security on it almost certainly isn’t. If something of yours connects to the internet, it can be hacked — leaving your private data vulnerable, and potentially sweeping your stuff into an international criminal botnet. Now, the FTC is awarding a cash prize to a developer who’s designed an app to hopefully help you make your stuff more secure. [More]
internet of poorly-secured things
The Code Running Millions Of Samsung Devices Is Full of Giant, Gaping Security Holes
By 4.5.17
The Internet of Things — the amorphous, rapidly-growing mass of devices that are always on and speaking to the great cloud — has never exactly been known for its great security practices. And according to one researcher, the system Samsung uses in everything from its TVs to its phones is “worst code I’ve ever seen,” containing multiple major vulnerabilities. [More]
Is Your DVR Acting Funny? It Might Be Attacking The Internet
By 3.20.17
It’s pretty obvious when a major internet service provider is under some kind of attack: The service gets bad and slow, error messages pop up all over, and everyone basically knows something is not right. But it’s a lot harder to tell is some other web-connected device you use is acting strange because it’s old, or is broken… or remotely attacking the internet on the other side of the globe. [More]
CloudPets “Smart” Toys Leak More Than 2M Voice Recordings, Other Personal Data
By 2.28.17
CloudPets are not cute little adoptable cumulonimbus and cirrus toys for your kid to play with. Instead, they are traditional dog, cat, and bear stuffed animals that relay voice messages between an adult and a kid through the digital cloud. Which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad idea, even if it’s not your style. What is a bad idea, however, is failing to secure your server, and making more than 2 million of those very personal messages public, for anyone on the internet to grab. [More]
Samsung “Smart” Camera Is Ridiculously Hackable
By 1.18.17
A security camera in your house, that you can access remotely, might seem like a good idea at first. You can log into it from anywhere, to see what’s going on and if it really was the cat who opened your kitchen cabinets every day last week. But the problem with a thing you can access remotely is that a sufficiently determined bad actor can, too. And sometimes it doesn’t even take much determination to do. [More]
Got An Idea On How To Make ‘Internet Of Things’ More Secure? You Could Win $25,000
By 1.5.17
Internet-connected (“smart”) devices are becoming ubiquitous, but they have this persistent problem: they’re internet-connected. A huge number are extremely vulnerable to being taken over by bad actors, for a whole host of reasons. And so, before your fridge becomes part of the next record-breaking botnet, the Federal Trade Commission wants to give someone cold, hard, cash money for coming up with a way to prevent it. [More]
Millions Of Hijacked “Smart” Devices Already Aiding Criminals, Research Finds
By 10.13.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Ever since “smart,” connected devices began to form the internet of things a few years back, some experts have warned that we could be facing a future where your toaster, washing machine, and TV become part of a sophisticated botnet used to attack others. Well, those experts say, the future is now. [More]
Your Home Router Was Probably Out-Of-Date And Insecure Before You Even Plugged It In
By 1.19.16
Here’s some depressing news for your morning: even if you set up your home network yourself and followed all of the best practices for doing so, it’s probably got some big fat vulnerabilities in it. [More]
Tech Expert Makes Point About (Bad) Security In The Internet Of Things By Hacking A Printer To Run Doom
By 9.15.14
The more appliances and devices there are out there with internet connections, the more hackers will be able to find security vulnerabilities in those appliances. One security expert found a particular hole that let him remotely install any software onto a whole line of popular printers. How to make a true point about what someone can accomplish with remote access to your devices? Make it run full-fledged video games. [More]
