As Samsung Electronics Co and General Electric Co (GE) make refrigerators that can tell you are out of milk and ovens that can be switched on with a mobile phone, security experts say such advances may also let hackers into your home.
Eva Chen (陳怡樺), president of Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技), a Tokyo-based developer of security software, said threats from hacking would spread as appliances, cameras and other devices connect to the Web. She is betting that protection for the so-called Internet of Things will be among the main reasons her company will more than double its number of users in three years.
“You’ll feel like you’re living in a glass house,” Chen said in a recent interview in Tokyo. “The consumer doesn’t even know that their device is hooking up to the Internet and sending all this information out.”
As Samsung, GE, Apple Inc and Google Inc race to infuse more technology into everyday devices, potential risks are beginning to emerge. Already, there has been a reported case of a hacker who terrorized a family in Houston, Texas, by remotely hijacking a baby monitor. This year, the European Cybercrime Centre warned that Web-connected appliances could lead to new types of targeted attacks, theft and possibly physical injuries.
“Some of these appliances are being shipped with the same flimsy security as Web cameras,” said Motohiro Nakanishi, a security analyst at Tokyo-based IPA Japan. “If you know the default password, you can get access.”
While the majority of incidents of hackings into the home have been limited to Web camera intrusions, researchers have found ways to tamper with everything from cars to toilets.
The market for the Internet of Things is forecast to almost quadruple to U$7.1 trillion by 2020, according to International Data Corp. That is enough to lure major tech companies such as Samsung Electronics, which has released remotely controlled lights and washing machines. Google purchased Nest Labs, a maker of connected thermostats and smoke detectors, earlier this year for US$3.2 billion.
Household goods manufacturers say they are aware of the risks and are taking steps to protect their products.
Japan’s Toshiba Corp, which makes refrigerators with internal cameras and remotely controlled vacuum cleaners, secures its connected appliances through a system that requires encrypted passwords, said Yuichiro Honda, an official at the company’s planning department.
Panasonic Corp encrypts all communication to and from connected home appliances, as well as passwords at multiple levels, spokeswoman Chieko Gyobu said.
However, security experts are skeptical that manufacturers of household appliances have taken sufficient precautions give the sophistication of today’s hackers.
“Anyone that thinks that your appliance maker is technology and security-astute is sadly misinformed,” said Ron Culler, chief technology officer at Secure Designs Inc in North Carolina. “Video, audio, environmental controls, security devices, etc have the potential to expose us to new threats.”
Chen said the key to protecting the home is to stop cyberintruders at the Internet router, the device that directs traffic from the Internet and within homes. In most houses, the router accesses the Web through a cable plugged into a wall and then communicates with household devices wirelessly.
Trend Micro is releasing software designed to protect the home as household hacking risks rise, Chen said.
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