Police have warned that household appliances which connect to the internet will increasingly be hacked by criminals seeking to steal your identity, rob your home or bank accounts. The chief constable, Mike Barton, who leads the National Police Chiefs Council on crime operations, warned about the dangers of the ‘internet of things’ as more ordinary household items become connected. Cesare Garlati, Chief Security Strategist at the prpl Foundation commented below.
Cesare Garlati, Chief Security Strategist at the prpl Foundation:
“IoT and connected devices have become the biggest threat in the modern world as attackers continue to exploit the capabilities and vulnerabilities of these devices. Dishwashers, fridges, kettle, TV’s; they are all risks to consumers as the security within these devices is non-existent, leaving people exposed in their own homes. To stop this failing by manufactures and developers from becoming a pandemic, the prpl Foundation has provided guidance on how to create a more secure Internet of Things that advises to adopt a hardware-led approach that sees security embedded from the ground up. By making sure these points are addressed before large scale implementations, it can save time and limit potential damage in the future. In the meantime, people can start by taking control of the security in their smart homes starting with the home router:
1) Regularly check for router firmware updates 2) Change default password on router 3) Configure firewall policies 4) Enable MAC filtering 5) Use guest network for guest devices 6) Use guest network for home devices 7) Disable UPnP 8) Close all ports on the firewall”
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