A great example of why the IoT isn't the best playground for DIY.

It sounds like a brave new world.
"A week later, my emails are still arriving erratically because my internet is in my kettle. But I guess this is what the future looks like. Wi-Fight it?"

This is what a world designed by software engineers looks like.
Weinberg's Second Law: If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

 

https://arstechnica.com/information...er-bricks-customers-product-after-bad-review/

IoT garage door opener maker bricks customer’s product after bad review
Startup tells customer “Your unit will be denied server connection.”

I, for one, bow before our garage door overlords.

 

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...t-has-grown-in-the-shadows-in-the-past-month/

Netlab experts say the botnet it's in incipient stages of development, with its operator busy adding as many devices to the fold as possible.

Exploits are added on a regular basis, while the C&C infrastructure expands to accommodate new bots.

Netlab says that it observed over two million infected devices sitting in the botnet's C&C servers' queue, waiting to be processed. Just yesterday, only one of the C&C servers was controlling over 10,000 bots.

https://www.ic3.gov/media/2017/171017-1.aspx

 

Thats why I put everything on an internal LAN and don't bank online. I don't need to control anything from an APP.

Either my security system gets them or it's not worth it. But, I'm still vulnerable through my TV and or my computer, iPad, iPhone.

kv

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/technology/smart-home-devices-domestic-abuse.html

SAN FRANCISCO — The people who called into the help hotlines and domestic violence shelters said they felt as if they were going crazy.

One woman had turned on her air-conditioner, but said it then switched off without her touching it. Another said the code numbers of the digital lock at her front door changed every day and she could not figure out why. Still another told an abuse help line that she kept hearing the doorbell ring, but no one was there.

Their stories are part of a new pattern of behavior in domestic abuse cases tied to the rise of smart home technology. Internet-connected locks, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras that have been marketed as the newest conveniences are now also being used as a means for harassment, monitoring, revenge and control.

 

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xw9bwd/1201-exemptions-right-to-repair

The Librarian of Congress and US Copyright Office just proposed new rules that will give consumers and independent repair experts wide latitude to legally hack embedded software on their devices in order to repair or maintain them. This exemption to copyright law will apply to smartphones, tractors, cars, smart home appliances, and many other devices.

The move is a landmark win for the “right to repair” movement; essentially, the federal government has ruled that consumers and repair professionals have the right to legally hack the firmware of “lawfully acquired” devices for the “maintenance” and “repair” of that device. Previously, it was legal to hack tractor firmware for the purposes of repair; it is now legal to hack many consumer electronics.

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-i...er/?ftag=CAD-03-10aaj8j&utm_source=reddit.com

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-i...er/?ftag=CAD-03-10aaj8j&utm_source=reddit.com

So I scare the women away with my face and now I am going to do it with my refrigerator?

 

Oh, this is just ducky:

Discarded smart lightbulbs reveal your wifi passwords, stored in the clear

No idea if it's true...

 

Oh, this is just ducky:

Discarded smart lightbulbs reveal your wifi passwords, stored in the clear

No idea if it's true...

https://limitedresults.com/2019/01/pwn-the-lifx-mini-white/
According to the values, this device is totally open (no secure boot, no flash encryption, no JTAG disabled).

It looks very, very true. Hopefully somewhat fixed in the new firmware.
https://www.lifx.com/pages/privacy-security

 

Wonderful. Simply wonderful...

 

Oh, this is just ducky:

Discarded smart lightbulbs reveal your wifi passwords, stored in the clear

No idea if it's true...

That's hilarious. A lot of people would recycle those in the bin at the local big-box store. Raiding that box would give a hacker a pile of passwords.

 

There it is again. There is always a spy vs spy in the background. It's mad.

 

There it is again. There is always a spy vs spy in the background. It's mad.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.

It's possible to design good security in IOT devices if it's a primary concern from the start instead of after the fact because of a stupid hack on a node with non-existent security. Most IOT devices are designed and programmed by great engineers with no background in operational security or cryptographic fundamentals. Attackers don't want to control your IOT device, it's a penetration point for hackers into your insecure network. We had vacuum tube security devices designed in the 50's that were attacked by the best minds on earth that were operation into the 80's because they were originally designed by people who deeply cared about security. You would think it would be trivial today with modern electronics but the opposite is true. The hardware, software and the networking complexity of many small interconnected devices actually makes it much easier to find a weak link in the chain. Don't expect things to get better anytime soon if security costs an extra nickle of profit.

 

https://arstechnica.com/information...nder-armour-pulls-the-plug-on-connected-tech/

The story of Under Armour's doomed scale is, unfortunately, something of an endemic side-effect to the Internet of things era. Not only can a company choose to pull support for a product that needs to phone home at any time, but also companies get acquired and go bankrupt all the time.

When this pattern plagues something small and inexpensive like a smart lightbulb, the disconnection is annoying but comparatively low-stakes. But when it's something like a $300 smart-home hub, or $1,200 worth of home security products, consumers who invested a fair amount of cash into something are suddenly up a creek.

 

"The market for IoT products is on track to top XXXX billions by 2021" - Breathless Industry Pundit.

I don't get it.
When will consumers realize that the value IoT produces is not for them?
This all portends a very nasty world.

I can walk over an switch on my own lights, thank you.

 

Water Filter DRM.
https://boingboing.net/2020/01/23/proprietary-carbon.html

 

Water Filter DRM.
https://boingboing.net/2020/01/23/proprietary-carbon.html

Ridiculous obviously. But lawyers probably to blame, to avoid the class action lawsuit down the road due to faulty filtration. I wonder if you could cut the RFID tag out and tape it on the new filter.

 

Ridiculous obviously. But lawyers probably to blame, to avoid the class action lawsuit down the road due to faulty filtration. I wonder if you could cut the RFID tag out and tape it on the new filter.

The expired RFID has been locked-out so you need a fresh one or a RFID from the 'no-filter' filter. Sure, lawyers are to blame but in this case maybe it's more about being sued under the Warranty Act.

Warrantors cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in order to retain the warranty.[7] This is commonly referred to as the "tie-in sales" provisions[8] and is frequently mentioned in the context of third-party computer parts, such as memory and hard drives.

 

Talk like Yoda everyone should.
For a Dark Emitting Diode, plans I have.

i already am selling Dark Emitting Diodes.