Category Archives: internetofthings

Are the Police Using Smart-Home IoT Devices to Spy on People?

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IoT devices are surveillance devices, and manufacturers generally use them to collect data on their customers. Surveillance is still the business model of the Internet, and this data is used against the customers’ interests: either by the device manufacturer or by some third party the manufacturer sells the data to. Of course, this data can be used by the police… Continue reading Are the Police Using Smart-Home IoT Devices to Spy on People?→

Security Vulnerability in Smart Electric Outlets

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A security vulnerability in Belkin’s Wemo Insight "smartplugs" allows hackers to not only take over the plug, but use it as a jumping-off point to attack everything else on the network. From the Register: The bug underscores the primary risk posed by IoT devices and connected appliances. Because they are commonly built by bolting on network connectivity to existing appliances,… Continue reading Security Vulnerability in Smart Electric Outlets→

Using Hacked IoT Devices to Disrupt the Power Grid

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This is really interesting research: "BlackIoT: IoT Botnet of High Wattage Devices Can Disrupt the Power Grid": Abstract: We demonstrate that an Internet of Things (IoT) botnet of high wattage devices — such as air conditioners and heaters — gives a unique ability to adversaries to launch large-scale coordinated attacks on the power grid. In particular, we reveal a new… Continue reading Using Hacked IoT Devices to Disrupt the Power Grid→

Department of Commerce Report on the Botnet Threat

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Last month, the US Department of Commerce released a report on the threat of botnets and what to do about it. I note that it explicitly said that the IoT makes the threat worse, and that the solutions are largely economic. The Departments determined that the opportunities and challenges in working toward dramatically reducing threats from automated, distributed attacks can… Continue reading Department of Commerce Report on the Botnet Threat→

Sending Inaudible Commands to Voice Assistants

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Researchers have demonstrated the ability to send inaudible commands to voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Over the last two years, researchers in China and the United States have begun demonstrating that they can send hidden commands that are undetectable to the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant. Inside university labs, the researchers have… Continue reading Sending Inaudible Commands to Voice Assistants→

Sending Inaudible Commands to Voice Assistants

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Researchers have demonstrated the ability to send inaudible commands to voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Over the last two years, researchers in China and the United States have begun demonstrating that they can send hidden comm… Continue reading Sending Inaudible Commands to Voice Assistants→

IoT Inspector Tool from Princeton

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Researchers at Princeton University have released IoT Inspector, a tool that analyzes the security and privacy of IoT devices by examining the data they send across the Internet. They’ve already used the tool to study a bunch of different IoT devices. … Continue reading IoT Inspector Tool from Princeton→

IoT Inspector Tool from Princeton

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Researchers at Princeton University have released IoT Inspector, a tool that analyzes the security and privacy of IoT devices by examining the data they send across the Internet. They’ve already used the tool to study a bunch of different IoT devices. From their blog post: Finding #3: Many IoT Devices Contact a Large and Diverse Set of Third Parties In… Continue reading IoT Inspector Tool from Princeton→