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I suspect this is going to cause a significant problem in the future with regaurds to all these embedded home routers that stopped receiving updates 6 months af

by throwaway2048 13y ago

I suspect this is going to cause a significant problem in the future with regaurds to all these embedded home routers that stopped receiving updates 6 months after release. Its essentially an unmonitored backdoor to 95% of networks on earth. http://www.devttys0.com/2013/10/reverse-engineering-a-d-link-backdoor/ http://www.devttys0.com/2013/10/reverse-engineering-a-d-link... http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/02/bizarre-attack-infects-linksys-routers-with-self-replicating-malware/ http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/02/bizarre-attack-infec... Not to mention the similar situation with android phones. What a spectacular mess.

deelowe 13y ago
Routers and switches are a concern, but I think the telsa example in the article is one of the best ones. Appliances that are relatively easy to replace is one thing, major purchases like a car, home automation, or similar items is much more concerning. We see how GM and Toyota reacted with their recalls. Are we going to see something similar from the future (less startup-y/more corporate) nests of the world? What happens when my alarm/sprinkler system is tied to my intelligent door locks and a simple buffer overflow via bluetooth allows a cracker to flood my entire business with a simple drive by attack? The internet of things brings with it an unprecedented level of risk.
- privong 13y ago
  > Appliances that are relatively easy to replace is one thing But if the hardware still works fine, replacing it because of software issues isn't really justified. It's far less wasteful to do software upgrades.
  - AnthonyMouse 13y ago
    > But if the hardware still works fine, replacing it because of software issues isn't really justified. It's far less wasteful to do software upgrades. Unless you're a hardware manufacturer who wants to sell new hardware.
  - deelowe 13y ago
    To be clear, I didn't disagree with that statement: > Routers and switches are a concern...
- bashinator 13y ago
  Yeah, the potential for extortion is pretty amazing. "We've owned your home network. Send 50 BtC here or we turn up the heat in your $60,000 aquarium.
tomkarlo 13y ago
Phones and small consumer electronics (even routers) have a relatively short operating life. It's a much bigger problem with systems that have a much longer expected service life and higher replacement costs, like cars, refrigerators, HVAC, thermostats, etc.

deelowe 13y ago

Routers and switches are a concern, but I think the telsa example in the article is one of the best ones. Appliances that are relatively easy to replace is one thing, major purchases like a car, home automation, or similar items is much more concerning. We see how GM and Toyota reacted with their recalls. Are we going to see something similar from the future (less startup-y/more corporate) nests of the world? What happens when my alarm/sprinkler system is tied to my intelligent door locks and a simple buffer overflow via bluetooth allows a cracker to flood my entire business with a simple drive by attack? The internet of things brings with it an unprecedented level of risk.

privong 13y ago
> Appliances that are relatively easy to replace is one thing But if the hardware still works fine, replacing it because of software issues isn't really justified. It's far less wasteful to do software upgrades.
- AnthonyMouse 13y ago
  > But if the hardware still works fine, replacing it because of software issues isn't really justified. It's far less wasteful to do software upgrades. Unless you're a hardware manufacturer who wants to sell new hardware.
- deelowe 13y ago
  To be clear, I didn't disagree with that statement: > Routers and switches are a concern...
bashinator 13y ago
Yeah, the potential for extortion is pretty amazing. "We've owned your home network. Send 50 BtC here or we turn up the heat in your $60,000 aquarium.

tomkarlo 13y ago

Phones and small consumer electronics (even routers) have a relatively short operating life. It's a much bigger problem with systems that have a much longer expected service life and higher replacement costs, like cars, refrigerators, HVAC, thermostats, etc.