4 ms·

The first vulnerability involves using the camera’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) – always on by default – and pinging Wi-Fi SSID with a really long parameter. Thi

The first vulnerability involves using the camera’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) – always on by default – and pinging Wi-Fi SSID with a really long parameter. This causes a buffer overflow in the camera and prompts the device to crash and reboot. The second vulnerability also involves a buffer overflow crash, but this time caused by an overly long Wi-Fi password. If a burglar can do that, he can definitely make better money elsewhere. His burgling career can officially be retired. Because the smart camera has no offline footage storage capabilities, this attack would give a burglar a window of opportunity to sneak into the house. Considering the attack could be repeated indefinitely, the burglar would have a lot more than 90 seconds to move about the house, without fear of being recorded. Technical aspects aside, the scenarios painted in the article are almost comically far-fetched. In 2017, a spy scenario might even be less so.

edejong 10y ago
As the exploit for this vulnerability is at (below?) beginner script-kiddie level, it is not far-fetched for a more sophisticated burglar. Every lock's life ends with someone uttering the words: "I never thought they would do that."
shagie 10y ago
> If a burglar can do that, he can definitely make better money elsewhere. His burgling career can officially be retired. True. Such as making $100 "nest cam defeaters" that are battery powered and backed by a raspberry pi zero or something similar. This also goes to the question of "what is being protected?" Its one thing to burgle a house and get a few thousand worth of jewelry and electronics. Its another thing for a local small museum that doesn't have the budget for a good security camera system.
- Johnny555 10y ago
  If a museum with anything of value is using Wifi cameras, then they are incompetent and the camera is likely not the worst of their flaws. Wifi disassociation attacks affect every Wifi camera.
  - funnyfacts365 10y ago
    And what about a jammer?
tehlike 10y ago
Well, imagine a smart man that is not a burglar-in-field start selling a device that did this. I think thats the scary part. Also think of evidence planting that could happen. Far fetched? Maybe. Maybe not.
mancerayder 10y ago
I don't know what burglar fantasy-land you folks are familiar with, but in my part of the concrete woods, burglars are known for their prowess. Their dexterity. The ability to put fear aside. Their technical experience, perhaps less so. How many could pass a red-black tree traversal whiteboard interview? The day these attributes are combined with an understanding of buffer overflow exploits will be a scary day indeed.
- pikzen 10y ago
  It only takes one person to automate this process for every one to use. Nobody expects burglars to manually write the exploit. Running a single thing from your phone? Much easier.
  - mancerayder 10y ago
    BurglarPro 1.1, now available from the Play Store. Modules available for front cam common buff overflow exploits, more. See testimonials for yourself and any positive feedback appreciated.
    - tomc1985 10y ago
      s/Play Store/underground carding forum/i and you're pretty much correct
- phil21 10y ago
  It's not as if skilled programmers who caught drug felonies or whatever lost their skills - they simply lost their employability within their industry. I'm certain a decent percentage of those folks make a living in the shadier areas of the economy, including theft.
- tdb7893 10y ago
  In my neck of the woods burglars are mostly known for needing money for drugs.
Spooky23 10y ago
People said that about cars too, but little boxes that exploit fancy car security are available. The Nest cam is such a dumb product from a security POV that these attacks merely scratch the surface. Wire clipper to the unprotected coax from the cable company is the easiest exploit.
- tgb 10y ago
  Eh, car theft decreased in the US by 41% between 2006 and 2015 in total volume, all while total number of cars has been increasing. Looks like modern security works okay! [1] http://www.iii.org/issue-update/auto-theft http://www.iii.org/issue-update/auto-theft
  - Spooky23 10y ago
    To clarify, that's absolutely correct. Dumb kids joyriding and stealing cars does not happen. But... for higher end cars, there's a brisk business, mostly around illegal exports. Those guys have devices that disable the newer security controls.
  - enraged_camel 10y ago
    Not necessarily. Crime as a whole has been decreasing. https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2015-crime-statistics https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-release...
wdr1 10y ago
> If a burglar can do that, he can definitely make better money elsewhere. His burgling career can officially be retired. Well, until someone makes a simple app that any burglar can use, a la a script kiddie.
megablast 10y ago
Um, doesn't he just run a program on his phone to do that?

edejong 10y ago

As the exploit for this vulnerability is at (below?) beginner script-kiddie level, it is not far-fetched for a more sophisticated burglar. Every lock's life ends with someone uttering the words: "I never thought they would do that."

shagie 10y ago

> If a burglar can do that, he can definitely make better money elsewhere. His burgling career can officially be retired. True. Such as making $100 "nest cam defeaters" that are battery powered and backed by a raspberry pi zero or something similar. This also goes to the question of "what is being protected?" Its one thing to burgle a house and get a few thousand worth of jewelry and electronics. Its another thing for a local small museum that doesn't have the budget for a good security camera system.

Johnny555 10y ago
If a museum with anything of value is using Wifi cameras, then they are incompetent and the camera is likely not the worst of their flaws. Wifi disassociation attacks affect every Wifi camera.
- funnyfacts365 10y ago
  And what about a jammer?

tehlike 10y ago

Well, imagine a smart man that is not a burglar-in-field start selling a device that did this. I think thats the scary part. Also think of evidence planting that could happen. Far fetched? Maybe. Maybe not.

mancerayder 10y ago

I don't know what burglar fantasy-land you folks are familiar with, but in my part of the concrete woods, burglars are known for their prowess. Their dexterity. The ability to put fear aside. Their technical experience, perhaps less so. How many could pass a red-black tree traversal whiteboard interview? The day these attributes are combined with an understanding of buffer overflow exploits will be a scary day indeed.

pikzen 10y ago
It only takes one person to automate this process for every one to use. Nobody expects burglars to manually write the exploit. Running a single thing from your phone? Much easier.
- mancerayder 10y ago
  BurglarPro 1.1, now available from the Play Store. Modules available for front cam common buff overflow exploits, more. See testimonials for yourself and any positive feedback appreciated.
  - tomc1985 10y ago
    s/Play Store/underground carding forum/i and you're pretty much correct
phil21 10y ago
It's not as if skilled programmers who caught drug felonies or whatever lost their skills - they simply lost their employability within their industry. I'm certain a decent percentage of those folks make a living in the shadier areas of the economy, including theft.
tdb7893 10y ago
In my neck of the woods burglars are mostly known for needing money for drugs.

Spooky23 10y ago

People said that about cars too, but little boxes that exploit fancy car security are available. The Nest cam is such a dumb product from a security POV that these attacks merely scratch the surface. Wire clipper to the unprotected coax from the cable company is the easiest exploit.

tgb 10y ago
Eh, car theft decreased in the US by 41% between 2006 and 2015 in total volume, all while total number of cars has been increasing. Looks like modern security works okay! [1] http://www.iii.org/issue-update/auto-theft http://www.iii.org/issue-update/auto-theft
- Spooky23 10y ago
  To clarify, that's absolutely correct. Dumb kids joyriding and stealing cars does not happen. But... for higher end cars, there's a brisk business, mostly around illegal exports. Those guys have devices that disable the newer security controls.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  Not necessarily. Crime as a whole has been decreasing. https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2015-crime-statistics https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-release...

wdr1 10y ago

> If a burglar can do that, he can definitely make better money elsewhere. His burgling career can officially be retired. Well, until someone makes a simple app that any burglar can use, a la a script kiddie.

megablast 10y ago

Um, doesn't he just run a program on his phone to do that?