DDoS Attack May Have Come From Internet of Things

[engine]

Some of you may have heard about the DDoS attack on Brian Krebs' site, which hits a new record.

It turns out that the massive attack, generating approximately 665 Gigabits of traffic per second, may have been, in part, supported by zombie bots on unmanaged DNS servers and the proliferation of Internet of Things with weak security.

[krebsonsecurity.com...]

More "Things" become connected every day, and surely, the makers have to rethink the security aspect.

We had to get a new washing machine not long ago. I noticed that at least one of the models of machine has Net control via the home WiFi. Two thoughts on this came to mind straight away; why do I need that capability, and, secondly, surely that's just opening up my home network to becoming a zombie, or, worse, getting hacked. In any case, it didn't take me long to decide that I didn't need to control my washing machine remotely, and I don't feel worse off for it.

[travelin cat]

I'm seeing this functionality in lots of home appliances, refrigerators and ovens come to mind. While I can see the advantage of some of them, I can't see how the benefit of being able to start the evening roast via your phone outweighs the possible repercussions that you mention.

That being said, most people not in the tech field have no idea what possible nightmare scenarios could play out with these.

[lawman]

I just bought a new smoker/grill. I passed on the WiFi option.

[engine]

>most people not in the tech field have no idea what possible nightmare scenarios could play out with these.

Correct: Most people are sold on the development of being able to do things remotely as an exciting prospect. It doesn't even enter the selllers conversation about Net security, nor does the buyer even ask about it. I suspect it'll be a while before "they" catch on.
In the meantime, manufacturers really ought to be doing a lot more.

>I just bought a new smoker/grill. I passed on the WiFi option.

hehehe, very wise.

[keyplyr]

Yeah but when you watch Bill Gates walk through his high tech Seatle digs with all the gadgets talking to each other, it's difficult not to get goosebumps.

[LifeinAsia]

it's difficult not to get goosebumps.

Those are actually rogue nanites that have been activated by the hacked IoT gadgets at Bill Gates' place.

[not2easy]

Something as uncomplicated as baby monitors are routinely interrupted by neighbors as well as more malicious 'visitors'. The general public does not know or is not taking the trouble to try to understand equipment before doing the set and forget part. Plug and Play is not always the wonderful feature that it seems. :(

[lawman]

Yesterday (Saturday) I had a problem with my 1 week old Green Mountain Grill. After exchanging emails with support person, I ended up talking to support rep (they provide support 7 days a week) who said he'd send out a replacement control panel. I asked about a WiFi panel instead and he offered it at half price. So I guess I could end up being a contributor to online insecurity. Anyway, here's a link to what you can do from the comfort of your couch while watching the football game:

[youtu.be...]

[NickMNS]

@lawman, Yeah, okay your biggest worry is DDoS attack.

Because leaving an unsupervised hot grill running in you yard while you watch the game is great idea. No risk there, kids, animals, weather. I guess you will be notified when the grill explodes!

[lawman]

Thanks for your concern NickMNS. To set your mind at ease, I'm talking about a wood pellet smoker with the wood pellets held in a hopper outside the firebox and fed by an auger on an as needed basis. Nothing to explode. Anyway, this is a slow cooker at low heat, often at 165 F and usually not over 275 F. There is a certain amount of hopping up and down to do what supervision is required. The phone app allows the monitoring to be done with minimal hopping up and down.

And oh, I can see the smoker through the glass french doors from my couch so I'm not concerned about stray kids who who would rather watch my grill smoke than play Pokemon Go, or the occasional bear or python, or even the weather, since I have an app on my phone to check that. Or even better, I could just look out the doors to see if a tornado is bearing down on me.

Denial of Service attack from my grill? The only reason I need to connect to the internet is to do a firmware update. Otherwise the control is point to point between phone and smoker. Looks like you're safe from me and my Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone smoker.