Your Amazon Kindle eReader can be hacked. Hackers can wipe out your device of all its books, take over your account, and steal your data. Fortunately, you can protect your device and data from malicious actors.
Can a Kindle Be Hacked?
Hackers aren't just limited to attacking smartphones and computers. As Yaniv Balmas, the head of cyber research at Check Point Research, said: "any electronic device, at the end of the day, is some form of a computer," per The Sun. This means any device connected to some type of network is vulnerable to hacking attacks.
Smart Home devices, for example, are exposed to thousands of hacking attacks in one week alone. Smartphones and computers may be the more obvious devices to attack because of all the data it stores, but any electronic device can be exploited for data one way or another.
Check Point Research, the Israel-based cybersecurity company, first reported the security flaw on Amazon Kindle through a research paper published recently for DEF CON, a security conference held in Las Vegas.
According to the security firm, hackers can gain access to any Kindle device by uploading a malicious ebook into Amazon's Kindle marketplace. The ebook may appear harmless but when it is opened, the exploit can begin.
Komando noted that the flaw does not apply to Fire tablets.
Once the hacker has access to the Kindle via the opened malicious ebook, the malicious actor can delete any of the preexisting titles in the device, The Sun explained. The crook can also access the authentication token that gives permission to a user to access their Amazon account.
With the tokens, the attacker can now access the victim's Amazon account and do whatever they want with it as they please: from fraudulent purchases, access to the victim's bank details, anything the hacker can get their hands on and exploit, really.
Check Point Research added that access to the Kindle can also become the key to accessing the victim's network and all the other devices connected to that network.
The security firm warned that these attacks can also be specific should the attacker discern the type of content the user prefers. This means the malicious book can be of the victim's favorite topic if it means it will be more likely downloaded by the intended victim.
Amazon Kindle Security Update Against Hackers
When Check Point Research reported its findings to Amazon, the online retail giant was "cooperative" and proceeded to patch the vulnerability, Komando said. Amazon is confident that users running their most recent Kindle software update are immune to the hacks, The Sun added.
The important security update should be automatically downloaded and installed while charging and connected to the Wi-Fi. Users can also update their Kindle manually, especially if the Kindle has been in airplane mode or has not been charged and connected to a network in a while.
Owners of any electronic device should get into the habit of update their devices' software to be kept up to date with security-related improvements that keep the user and the data stored in the devices safe.
