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By definition, disabling remote management will be visible to the attacker. But a recording hub that can prove an attacker did things would be possible to deplo
by olefoo 8y ago
By definition, disabling remote management will be visible to the attacker. But a recording hub that can prove an attacker did things would be possible to deploy undetectably.
Digital locksmiths who can update a home network and cloud footprint are now a feature of middle class life; most divorce lawyers know one or two.
And don't forget the cars. You'd be surprised at how small a gps tracker can be. And cars with on-board compute power can do funky things like use the backup cameras to watch the surrounding area...
- Eridrus 8y agoThe recording hub idea is really interesting. I appreciate the constructive idea about what device makers could actually do to help, rather than just bringing our hands. If you have any others, I'd be interested to hear what you think would help. Though now that I think about it a bit more, it treads a fine line between being a back door for monitoring activity, though maybe you could log something super limited like when an account initiated a remote action, without recording anything about what the action was.
- WiseWeasel 8y agoFor a thermostat, it would likely not be immediately visible to the attacker unless they cross-reference their smart energy meter readings. It might possibly escape detection for lights, doorbells and music depending on the degree of video/audio surveillance.
- jpindar 8y agoSure it would be. If they turn up the desired temperature and the measured temperature doesn't go up, they know the thermostat is disconnected.
- LeifCarrotson 8y agoThe key part of the original post is to SILENTLY disable the remote interface. This only leaks if there are two devices (a thermostat and temperature sensor) that don't know about each other or the other's secret offline status. With a doorbell, the assumption is that the app would be made to show 'ringing doorbell' when the doorbell is actually offline and silent - not as presently implemented where the Internet of Shit app doesn't have any fault handling and simply HTTP GETs {"doorbell":"ring"} and discards the response. Same for the thermostat, as for the Android privacy APKs that show bogus location data, white noise from the mic, bogus contacts, or the inside of a lens cover from the camera to apps that request those permissions needlessly.