A lightbulb worm could take over every smart light in a city in minutes

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/11/09/a-lightbulb-worm-could-take-ov.html

1 Like

Attackers could also brick all the Hue devices citywide. They could use a kind of blinking morse code to transmit data stolen from users’ networks. They could even induce seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.

This is bullshit because this is not the problem. The proof of concept is important, but the real danger isn’t turning your lights off and on. The real danger is totally insecure medical equipment, meaning that ransomware comes with lives on the line. The danger is when somebody finally hacks the power grid. The danger is insecure voting machines.

And the even greater danger is a congress that’s going to defund regulation immediately, while it’s a felony to investigate code. Personally, I’ll stick with dumb lights thanks.

7 Likes

Having light bulbs get taken over is really a best case scenario that might make people take network security more seriously while not causing any real harm. I’d actually like to see it happen.

2 Likes

Can we all just agree that nobody needs a damn smart light bulb? No? Okay.
Consumerist crap & a waste of money & resources. IMO
This junk just further compromises already shaky security.

7 Likes

I still like the idea of one that can change color/wavelength based on the time of day so we get more blue in the morning and red at night to closer mimic natural light. I never liked the idea of opening that shit up to the internet though.

5 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.