The BBC set up a smart home and showed how as more things become connected, hackers can gain access and cause problems. The video that accompanies the article is very good, you will need to view the site as the video was not embeddable.
I firmly believe the more I read over the last year that all the benefits of the Internet of Things will be outshadowed by all the potential problems. I firmly believe there will be a public backlash that will reach the highest levels of government. Hopefully these types of features will get more companies to get better about security and create jobs for those specializing in the field. It is obvious that people have to know what they are exposing themselves too when they start connecting all these gadgets and leave themselves open to potential risks. There certainly is a need for education of the masses when it comes to cyber security.
From the article:
The BBC set up a house filled with a variety of smart gadgets and asked researchers to demonstrate how easy it was to crack the security systems on them.
Liam Hagan, a researcher from security firm Nettitude, said he was “shocked” at the poor job baby monitors and wi-fi cameras did to protect the pictures and sounds they were gathering.
“One of the big issues is that one wi-fi video camera makes itself available to the internet regardless of your firewall,” he said. “Anyone who knows your IP address would be greeted with the login screen for the camera.”
These are not people letting you down, they are smart gadgets that will form what is known as the Internet of Things. All of them are a security disaster waiting to happen, suggests a BBC experiment.
The Internet of Things (IoT) stands in contrast to The Internet of People we currently enjoy and which lets us communicate and connect via a myriad of different technologies. The IoT promises to let stuff, devices and gadgets connect in the same way to both other hardware and us.
Via the IoT, those gadgets will tell us how they feel and we will control them via the same routes. Already it is possible to get smart thermostats, fridges, ovens, washing machines, air conditioners, lights, plugs, music players, baby monitors and many more.
Smart gadgets are better than dumb ones, say enthusiasts, because the ability to control them remotely will help us cope with the uncertainties of modern life.
With a net-connected oven, it will be possible to ensure your casserole is cooked to perfection as you arrive home hours late rather than dried up and cold because there was no way to communicate with the oven and adjust its timer.
The BBC’s experiment brought together seven computer security experts who have been looking into so-called smart gadgets to find out how many they could subvert.
And how many could they crack the security on?
All of them.
“With most of them, if you can connect to it you can own it,” said James Lyne, head of security research at Sophos.
Read the full article here
Between cybercriminals and snooping governments, the only safe place to hide is among pre-1990s technology.
Yeah Joseph or we need new stellar technology, and also we need more people educated on security there will always be people trying to get in but we need to be creating jobs and education in the field. I would like to believe it will be a major trend of the future but of course reality tv trumps math and science and people would rather be a bachelor or go on an amazing race.
Oh, I’m sure security will be beefed up eventually. But in the mean time, I prefer to let the early adopters lead this consumer charge. After they’re gunned down by those exploiting this half-a$$#& technology, I may catch up to the technology battlefield a decade late when it’s more tranquil.
My television unfriended my DVR, my refrigerator is having a flame war with my toaster, and my electric meter keeps trying to send all my power to someone in Nigeria.
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