Another reason why the IoT may not be that good an idea ...

[JorgeA]

Wow, that would make an interesting premise for a movie plot. 

 

--JorgeA

[jaclaz]

I am reminded of a story... I don't have a link. but it was on local news a few weeks ago.

 

Essentially, A radio station was playing some kind of siri voice command to disable mobile phones. (flight mode?)

 

A novel and utterly simple way to stop data / facebook from sending and receiving while driving.

 

"Hey Cortana, brick the phone" lol

It is probably the clever (and widely publicized) radio ad by Toyota in Sweden:

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1355388/clever-toyota-ad-hijacks-siri-switch-off-iphones-driving

 

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

Wait until your own house gets mad at you for some reason and refuses to cook you breakfast, make coffee, do the laundry and so on and so forth! Pretty eloquent example in some episodes of "Eureka" when S.A.R.A.H. the smart house gets offended or - worse - IT virus-infected. Smart people will then flee to the third-world countries where everything gets done manually and you have total control over what happens. But will there still be any such countries by then, or everything everywhere will be digitally controlled…?

[jaclaz]

Wait until your own house gets mad at you for some reason and refuses to cook you breakfast, make coffee, do the laundry and so on and so forth! ... Smart people will then flee to the third-world countries where everything gets done manually and you have total control over what happens. ...

To be fair, in first, second and third-world  countries wives may happen to behave exactly like that .

 

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

Yeah, but they're not remotely controlled and forced to do that against their will.

But then again, when the refrigerator or coffee machine get their own will, we humans are screwed.

[jaclaz]

...unless we have a remote with a SCRAM! button ...

 

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

You mean a large and heavy hammer…

[jaclaz]

You mean a large and heavy hammer…

Sure , I tend to use a SH-1 degausser^® to make sure I leave no data back by creating sledgy^© currents, but it's use can be extended of course:

http://reboot.pro/topic/13601-software-to-wipe-a-systemdrive-from-windows/?p=123099

 

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

[jaclaz]

And - just to prove that there is nothing really "new" under the sun - have a look at this:

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/jeremyepstein/decertifying-the-worst-voting-machine-in-the-us/

the worst fears of anyone if not actually caring about at least attentive to minimum levels of security are (were) seemingly reality.

 

jaclaz

[JorgeA]

Samsung smart fridge might leak your Gmail credentials

 

Your smart fridge might be good for storing cold beer, but it definitely isn’t good for storing your Gmail credentials, as those can be easily stolen. During the recent DEF CON hacking conference, the vulnerability was unveiled at the IoT hacking challenge run by Samsung.

 

The fridge that got owned was the RF28HMELBSR smart fridge. It downloads Gmail Calendar information and displays it on an on-screen display. The device does implement SSL, but it fails to validate SSL certificates, thereby enabling man-in-the-middle attacks against most connections.

 

The best reading on that page is in the comments:

 

So modern society has successfully discovered a way to ensure that regular security updates will need to be issued to your refrigerator in order to mitigate potential for identity theft. Well done.

 

and

 

Looks like Microsoft doesn't have the lock on stupidity and hubris after all.

 

--JorgeA

Edited August 26, 2015 by JorgeA

[jaclaz]

Some news from Samsung:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/03/samsung-launches-smartthings-internet-of-things-hub

 

Just a few days after DEFCON 23 and:

http://www.pentestpartners.com/blog/hacking-defcon-23s-iot-village-samsung-fridge/

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/08/using_samsungs_.html

 

 

And some more (IMHO preoccupying) news:

http://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2015/09/9-baby-monitors-wide-open-to-hacks-that-expose-users-most-private-moments/

https://www.rapid7.com/docs/Hacking-IoT-A-Case-Study-on-Baby-Monitor-Exposures-and-Vulnerabilities.pdf

 

jaclaz

[jaclaz]

And even the NYT noticed how there is something of "perverted nature" in the IOT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/opinion/sunday/allison-arieff-the-internet-of-way-too-many-things.html?_r=0

 

 

At a design conference recently, I was introduced to Leeo, a new product that I initially understood to be a reboot of something really in need of a redesign: the smoke detector. As the designer explained his process, I quickly came to understand that Leeo was nothing of the sort. It was a gadget, a night light that “listens” for your smoke detector to go off and then calls your smartphone to let you know your house might be on fire.

So, to “improve” a $20 smoke alarm, the designer opted to add a $99 night light and a several-hundred-dollar smartphone.

This is not good design.

....

The Internet of Things is pitched as good for the consumer. But is it? At this point, it seems exceptionally awesome for those companies working on products for it. The benefit to the average homeowner pales dramatically in relation to the benefit for the companies poised to accumulate infinite amounts of actionable data. You and I benefit by determining whether our dog got enough exercise last Wednesday. Is that a fair tradeoff? Doesn’t feel like it.

jaclaz

[Drugwash]

My take on the matter:

- devices are getting smarter

- humans are getting dumber (by consequence AND by [lack of] education)

 

Therefore:

- dumb people will never be able to (fully) understand the output of smart devices

- dumb people will actually die looking dumbly at smart devices' screens

- many other people (dumb or not at all) will die because other (dumb or actualy smart) people will push certain buttons that allow smart devices to perform certain actions

- the guys who carved into The Georgia Guidestones "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 [...]" will rejoice

…

Edited September 9, 2015 by Drugwash

[jaclaz]

And now it's Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theopriestley/2015/09/21/consumers-prepare-for-an-internet-of-very-pointless-things/

 

 

But if we examine the market as it is today apathy is rife because the current trend by OEM companies is to “stick a chip in it” in order to connect it to the internet, without any real value to the consumer. In fact, the only ones getting excited by the Internet of Things are the vendors.

Take Samsung’s offerings at the recent IFA exhibition. Samsung now have a new SmartThings hub to connect the many devices in your home. There were examples like;

• The smart oven that waited for you to be on your way home before starting to heat your dinner.
• The home that switched on lights as you approached.
• Samsung also added a touch of personality to their SmartThings platform; you can start the morning by texting the app “good morning”, and your house will bid you farewell as you leave.

The immediate response to these was – Why ? (especially the last one!)

 

jaclaz