Just last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the FBI issued a bulletin regarding the Internet of Things. The agency said that the internet-connected devices are a cause for security concerns, as they can prove to be easy targets for hacking attacks. The attacks allow intruders to steal important user identity information with everyday devices that are connected to the internet.
This week, a group of researchers released their findings on tests done for the Samsung Smart Refrigerator, an IoT device. The group has also found 60 never-released vulnerabilities of other internet-connected devices, all discovered in the group's August demonstration. The Globe and Mail has reported that the testing of the Samsung refrigerator has been done in the annual Defcon Security Conference which has been held in Las Vegas two months ago.
The event has been hosted by Independent Security Evaluators. An executive partner to the company, Ted Harrington, has spent weeks contacting the companies which produced the vulnerable devices. Now, Harrington can reveal the findings of the Defcon. Harrington said that vulnerabilities have been found in 27 devices from 18 different manufacturers, some of which are prominent names in the tech industry.
The Samsung Smart Refrigerator has been found to allow an attacker to read the victim's emails. A hack called "man in the middle" enables the attacker to have access and possibly steal the user's identity in the process. Other examples cited are a Philips baby monitor with back-door credentials which let users access live feed. Other monitors have also been found to have back-door credentials. The Samsung Smartcam can also be blocked so that the user will not be able to access it.
"By 2020, we're gonna have 50 billion connected devices, its an astronomical number," Harrington said. The FBI bulletin has suggested that users consistently change default passwords to stronger ones to avoid risks of their devices being infiltrated. Users may also opt not to buy such devices, but in the future, purchasing them may be inevitable.
