Your Hackable House
Hackers have found security flaws in most connected devices inside your home. Many of these problems have been fixed, but hackers keep finding new ways to break in. Roll over the items in blue to see how they could make your house feel haunted.
Thermostat
It’s nice to warm up the house on your way back from work. “Smart home connectors” enable you to pump up the thermostat with an app. Hackers detected security flaws in one connected home hub that would enable hackers to pump up your heat, or worse still, turn it off and let your pipes burst.
Wallet/Credit Cards
The mobile point-of-sale software some stores use to process your payment may not be secure. Cybersecurity firm Trustwave estimates that a criminal hacker could steal credit card information from hundreds of shoppers in about twenty minutes.
Lamp
You turn your lights off, then someone else turns them back on. Sound like your house is haunted? Nope, it’s just hacked. A vulnerability in a smart home controller would enable hackers to mess with your desk lamp from halfway around the world.
Web Camera
You might want to hold off on that strip poker Skype session. Many Internet cameras have default logins and never prompt users to change them, making the devices an easy target for hackers.
Cell Phone
Hackers can gain access to your Android device by building malware that poses as your favorite app. Researchers hacked a link to the game Angry Birds and were then able to take photos, record conversations and track users’ locations from the phone.
Baby Monitor
A Texas family got a shock this summer when an outsider started yelling at their two-year old through a hacked baby monitor. Baby monitors with webcams have a range of vulnerabilities, from weak internal security protocols to easily obtained default passwords.
Smoke Detector
Smoke alarms, like many devices, can be synced with apps to notify you in the event of an emergency. But some “smart home connectors” don’t encrypt your data and others don’t require authentication. Both of these flaws could put your home at risk.
Garage Door
Security researchers are creating a device known as the HackRF that can read and reproduce radio wave signals. Simply being able to record and replay the signal from your garage door opener may be enough to open the door when you're not home.
Router
Hackers can locate routers and other connected devices using the search engine Shodan. Bad actors can use the information obtained on Shodan to infiltrate routers with default usernames and passwords.
Refrigerator
If an attacker can access your Wi-Fi network, he can probably melt the ice cream inside your “smart” fridge. The computer in some of these devices can be used to set the temperature.
Car
Hackers took control of two vehicles, manipulating their steering and brakes. They were able to hard-wire a Toyota Prius and a Ford Escape to make the wheel move sharply at high speeds and disable the brakes while parking.
Front Door
Vulnerabilities in “smart home” controllers allowed a hacker to remotely unlock a door and change the PIN code on keypad locks.
Electric Meter
Default passwords for popular “smart” electric meters brands can be found online, making them easy bait for hackers. And since the device is typically installed by the electric company, few homeowners change them.
Network Extender
An increasingly popular device for extending in-home cell-phone coverage had a major security hole that could enable an attacker to eavesdrop on everything you were doing on your mobile device.
TV
Flaws in Samsung Smart TVs enabled hackers to remotely turn on the television’s built-in camera. While you were watching TV, a hacker anywhere in the world could have been watching you.
Source: iSec, Trustwave, IOActive, Kindsight Security Labs, Great Scott Gadgets
By: Erica Fink, Laurie Segall and Rob Hanley / CNNMoney
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