- Jun 24, 2016
- 636
Smart Electrical Sockets Could Be the Next Botnet:
SOURCE: motherboard.vice.com (ARTICLE DATE: 19th Aug 2016)
Smart electrical sockets might launch the next cyberattack, or might even put your life in danger. Security researchers at Bitdefender have found a vulnerability in a popular brand—the researchers did not disclose which—that they say could allow an attacker to turn power outlets into botnets, read your email, and even set your house on fire if you connect an appliance that could overheat...
Among the most destructive actions someone could perform is to wipe the existing software on the socket and to replace it with malicious one, researchers said.
“Up until now most IoT vulnerabilities could be exploited only in the proximity of the smart home they were serving, however, this flaw allows hackers to control devices over the Internet,” Alexandru Balan, chief security researcher at Bitdefender, said. “This is a serious vulnerability, we could see botnets made up of these power outlets.”
Researchers who analyzed the power outlet have found several security issues. The device comes with a weak username and password combination, and does not alert users to change it. Experts have also noticed that, during configuration, the app sends WiFi credentials in clear text over the network...
SOURCE: motherboard.vice.com (ARTICLE DATE: 19th Aug 2016)
Smart electrical sockets might launch the next cyberattack, or might even put your life in danger. Security researchers at Bitdefender have found a vulnerability in a popular brand—the researchers did not disclose which—that they say could allow an attacker to turn power outlets into botnets, read your email, and even set your house on fire if you connect an appliance that could overheat...
[IMAGE: Bitdefender]
The vulnerable socket plugs into a regular one, and allows users to schedule the activity of any dumb electronic device, with the help of a smartphone. The app is available for both iOS and Android platforms, and there have been over 10,000 downloads from Google Play alone. Bitdefender contacted the smart socket vendor, and they’ve promised to release a fix during Q3 2016.
Among the most destructive actions someone could perform is to wipe the existing software on the socket and to replace it with malicious one, researchers said.
“Up until now most IoT vulnerabilities could be exploited only in the proximity of the smart home they were serving, however, this flaw allows hackers to control devices over the Internet,” Alexandru Balan, chief security researcher at Bitdefender, said. “This is a serious vulnerability, we could see botnets made up of these power outlets.”
Researchers who analyzed the power outlet have found several security issues. The device comes with a weak username and password combination, and does not alert users to change it. Experts have also noticed that, during configuration, the app sends WiFi credentials in clear text over the network...
[To read the full article please visit the link at the top of the page]
[To read the Bitdefender paper please visit labs.bitdefender.com]
[To read the Bitdefender paper please visit labs.bitdefender.com]
