The Security Vulnerabilities of Smart Devices

In 2020, we are now more connected to the internet than ever before, from having smart fridges, smart cars, and even RFID implants that can be placed under our skin.

Though the media proclaims that having these things will make our lives easier, we forget the one crucial aspect.

Our privacy and security are more vulnerable than ever before!

Because our lives are becoming more and more connected to the internet, hackers can now hack our doors, heating, cars, and fridges.

Though you would think hacking these devices are quite difficult to do, you couldn’t be more wrong.

You can see this by this video where a hacker can control a car. This just one example and there are countless more examples out there.

Should We Sacrifice Security For Convenience?

Yes and no. For example, a remote-controlled door that allows access to friends or families when you are not home is not worth the risk, as these things can lead to robbings and potentially kidnapping.

This includes cameras…

“Ring sued by man who claims camera was hacked and used to harass his kids”

A hacker was recorded on video talking to an 8-year old girl after the 4th day of the camera installation. The hacker was claiming to be Santa Clause and asked if she could be his friend.

These are only one of the incidents that have occurred.

“The lawsuit named seven such incidents, including a Texas incident in which a hacker allegedly threatened a couple and demanded a ransom of $350,000 in bitcoin and another where a hacker allegedly tried to engage with an eight-year-old girl in Mississippi, claiming he was Santa Clause. The parents in that case released a video of the incident.”

These types of technologies are still in their early phases. Thus, their security can not be trusted yet, so we must take our time and wait until their safety has improved.

My Experience With Technology As a Cyber Security Student

From studying cybersecurity at my university, I have learned these inventions aren’t that difficult to hack into. You might be skeptical but type on YouTube How to hack into a camera, and you will find countless YouTube videos explaining to you how to do so.

I think this change is inevitable as we progress to future generations, but we must be cautious when deciding to have these convenient features in our household.

There is no need to get paranoid. Instead, follow these precautions and remember:

Anything that is connected to the internet can be hacked.

It is good to weigh the pros and cons and the worst possible vulnerabilities each device has. For example, if you get a smart fridge, the worst thing that could happen is a hacker automatically ordering food to your fridge (not a huge deal).

However, if you get a camera in your home, the worst-case scenario is someone spying on your family (a substantially huger deal).

Create complex passwords! Really complex passwords.

Recently one of my friends has been hacked, where a hacker exposed his password and told him to pay up, or he will leak his private information.

I blame my friend as his password was astonishingly basic. So, either get a tool like Dashlane to save and create passwords for you or create a unique and complex password.

For good measure, a good password has a mixture of uppercase letters, special characters and is not a word, name, or year.

Hackers have something called a wordlist. This word list is the most commonly used passwords that are used by people. They run a tool and find which password works on your email, camera, or phone and leak that information.

So again, create a complicated password!

Don’t Join Public Wi-fi Networks!

You probably hear this a lot, and for a good reason!

By joining free wi-fi networks, hackers can look at your personal device’s address (this can be used to hack you from afar) and steal your information. If you have nothing important on your device, then it will be fine. But that usually isn't the case for most of us

Only Go to websites that have https://

Websites that only have Http:// means that hackers can see exactly what you are typing, so if its an online banking website, then definitely don’t type your information on there.

Stop Saving Your Password on Google Chrome

Ok, I am a bit guilty of doing this, but it’s best practice never to save it. You might think those little dots that appear on the password section are safe, but they aren’t, with a simple script you can change them to regular text. I know because I have done this to my friends as a demonstration.

Conclusion

In essence, only get these new technologies when you need them, and measure if the risk is worth the convenience.

Also, hacking does occur often, but you don’t need to be paranoid about it since if you follow these tips, you should be fine.

If you enjoyed this, do visit my website - Legendary Spartan and join my Newsletter.

Previously published at https://medium.com/be-unique/moving-to-a-smart-society-is-a-bad-idea-for-cybersecurity-e925f29d0047