Kaspersky Founder: IoT Stands For 'Internet Of Threats'

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Why does a coffee maker need Internet connectivity? Ok, I can maybe see a way to connect to your LAN so that you can say, "Oh, crap, I forgot to set my coffeemaker to automatically start brewing so that it's ready as soon as my shower is done...good thing I have the app on my smartphone so that I can set it without getting out of bed"...unless, of course, you also end up thinking, "Oh, crap, I hope I remembered to fill the reservoir with water, & to put a fresh filter & grounds in it", or "I hope I remembered to make sure the Keurig-style cups in the hopper are ready to go", since no water = no coffee, & no coffee grounds = plain hot water.

But that's the problem: how many times are you going to say on the way home from work, "Dang, I could really use a fresh cup of coffee when it's sunny & hot outside as I get home, I'd better make sure my coffeemaker has it brewed by the time I pull into the driveway...sure hope I remembered to refill the water reservoir this morning...".
 
Why does a coffee maker need Internet connectivity? Ok, I can maybe see a way to connect to your LAN so that you can say, "Oh, crap, I forgot to set my coffeemaker to automatically start brewing so that it's ready as soon as my shower is done...good thing I have the app on my smartphone so that I can set it without getting out of bed"...unless, of course, you also end up thinking, "Oh, crap, I hope I remembered to fill the reservoir with water, & to put a fresh filter & grounds in it", or "I hope I remembered to make sure the Keurig-style cups in the hopper are ready to go", since no water = no coffee, & no coffee grounds = plain hot water.

But that's the problem: how many times are you going to say on the way home from work, "Dang, I could really use a fresh cup of coffee when it's sunny & hot outside as I get home, I'd better make sure my coffeemaker has it brewed by the time I pull into the driveway...sure hope I remembered to refill the water reservoir this morning...".
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the brewers can also tell you how much water or coffee ground is in there. mind blown?

but i do agree with your sentiments. not everything needs to be connected, or even SHOULD be connected. there's just one extra headache to get something connected. my printer disconnects randomly all the time, and I bet all these things will have the same problem. but i have to say, being able to turn on your AC in advance sounds pretty awesome.
 

If you think hard enough, you can likely find multiple reasons, however questionable they might be, to connect just about anything to the internet.

I do not like the notion of putting everything online either but that won't stop companies from trying to market iToasters, iDildos, etc. to monitor usage and provide online management services.
 

If you think hard enough, you can likely find multiple reasons, however questionable they might be, to connect just about anything to the internet.

I do not like the notion of putting everything online either but that won't stop companies from trying to market iToasters, iDildos, etc. to monitor usage and provide online management services.
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Why does a coffee maker need Internet connectivity? Ok, I can maybe see a way to connect to your LAN so that you can say, "Oh, crap, I forgot to set my coffeemaker to automatically start brewing so that it's ready as soon as my shower is done...good thing I have the app on my smartphone so that I can set it without getting out of bed"...unless, of course, you also end up thinking, "Oh, crap, I hope I remembered to fill the reservoir with water, & to put a fresh filter & grounds in it", or "I hope I remembered to make sure the Keurig-style cups in the hopper are ready to go", since no water = no coffee, & no coffee grounds = plain hot water.

But that's the problem: how many times are you going to say on the way home from work, "Dang, I could really use a fresh cup of coffee when it's sunny & hot outside as I get home, I'd better make sure my coffeemaker has it brewed by the time I pull into the driveway...sure hope I remembered to refill the water reservoir this morning...".
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Unfortunately, marketers know how to take advantage of this. The coffee maker can actually have a water line hooked to it when the house is built, and the $120 coffee maker might add more value to a $200,000+ house. Scarily enough, little things like this can actually mean a higher chance of a sale. People don't understand that you can upgrade things


If you think hard enough, you can likely find multiple reasons, however questionable they might be, to connect just about anything to the internet.

I do not like the notion of putting everything online either but that won't stop companies from trying to market iToasters, iDildos, etc. to monitor usage and provide online management services.
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It's getting easier with free OSes and cheap SoC CPUs.

That being said, I do agree with you completely. Analytics are very valuable for marketers, and they would love to be able to track information about you. I don't want that in everything that I own. My car already has it, and it's creepy
 
Yes..I could see why intelligence agencies may be interested in what time of day you drink your coffee, that way they can triangulate any coffee shops you've been to based on your work route.
 
Coffee maker was just an example. Mainly because everything and anything will be able to connect to the internet. Why you ask? Because it can.
 
This isn't really new information by any means though, hackers already have access to your cell phone and can turn on your microphone or camera without you knowing. They can also take over your router and use your house as a repeater or to anonymously broadcast information. You should probably just assume that anything that you connect to the internet, especially over WiFi, can be intercepted and read. If the hacker or team of hackers is that developed they can reverse engineer a server that acts like a normal response within the end of the day, and people should just know that in 2015.

Don't think about WHAT can be accessed, think about HOW it affects you. What can a hacker do if they have access to my fridge? Change my clock settings? Read my grocery list?
 
This is exactly why Adama would not allow the school teacher to setup a networked computer aboard his ship and why the Galactica was equipped with manually controlled non electronic water faucets.
 
This is exactly why Adama would not allow the school teacher to setup a networked computer aboard his ship and why the Galactica was equipped with manually controlled non electronic water faucets.
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+50 Internet points for the BG reference.
 
Don't think about WHAT can be accessed, think about HOW it affects you. What can a hacker do if they have access to my fridge? Change my clock settings? Read my grocery list?
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Use your imagination! How about give you food poisoning by adjusting to an unsafe temperature part of the time? Flood your house by taking over Ice maker?
 
Internet of Timewasting more like. Just image how many more people will be spending time with support calls or just wasting their own time trying to sort out connectivity issues or even block unwanted spam from hundreds of millions of badly configured internet doodahs. It's time to harden the firewalls!
 
Don't think about WHAT can be accessed, think about HOW it affects you. What can a hacker do if they have access to my fridge? Change my clock settings? Read my grocery list?
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Use your imagination! How about give you food poisoning by adjusting to an unsafe temperature part of the time? Flood your house by taking over Ice maker?
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Why would you connect the IoT electronics to the compressor? Give IoT it's own temp sensor, it doesn't need to adjust just report.
 
Don't think about WHAT can be accessed, think about HOW it affects you. What can a hacker do if they have access to my fridge? Change my clock settings? Read my grocery list?
Click to expand...


Use your imagination! How about give you food poisoning by adjusting to an unsafe temperature part of the time? Flood your house by taking over Ice maker?
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Adjusting the sensors that automatically order milk for you and keep screwing with the time so it orders several dozen gallons of milk to you place each day.
 
@PaulBags, it depends on what the manufacturer wants.

Vendor A: "Our new iFridge is the bomb! It will automatically send you a warning when your crisper drawer is 2 degrees too warm!"

Vendor B: "That's nothing! Our new iFrezr will let you adjust the temperature from the comfort of your office chair, so that your favorite after-work beverage is just the perfect temperature!"

Vendor C: "Don't listen to our competitors, they're a bunch of lozers! OUR new Fridgidator 2.0 not only automatically notifies you when the temperature changes & lets you adjust it accordingly, but it'll send you a text alert as soon as someone opens the door!"

And so on, & so forth, with the useless & unneeded 'functionality' added to make it a true IoT appliance, the wasted bandwidth, the eating up of your data plan, good Glavin!
 


Anything that runs on the same environment memory or higher ring level than networked applications is fair game even if it's not a factory supported networking option. Firmware could be developed by model number and a hacker can even go so far as to use byte scanning and manual mapping of rogue libraries, or backdooring the exception handler and throwing exceptions wherever you need data modification, then crawling back through the JMP (assuming permitable), etc., to manipulate or add memory that otherwise wasn't there.

Could an electronic temperature control be installed in a fridge? Yes, perhaps to adjust drawer temperatures with a touch screen, and it probably wouldn't be a networked function. If it was connected to a network could a hacker install firmware from miles away using your own exploitable router and internet connection that allows them to control that temperature anyways or simply trick the sensor into reading several degrees higher but display the real temperature on the GUI? Both are certainly plausible.

So...great point!
 
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