Internet of Things

ComputerWorldIndependent

Robots are just as plagued by security vulnerabilities as IoT devices

Credit to Author: Lucian Constantin| Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 08:29:00 -0800

An analysis of robots used in homes, businesses and industrial installations has revealed many of the same basic weaknesses that are common in IoT devices, raising questions about security implications for human safety.

The robotics industry has already seen significant growth in recent years and will only further accelerate. Robots are  expected to serve in many roles, from assisting people in homes, stores and medical facilities, to manufacturing in factories and even handling security and law enforcement tasks.

“When you think of robots as computers with arms, legs or wheels, they become kinetic IoT devices that, if hacked, can pose new serious threats we have never encountered before,” researchers from cybersecurity consultancy firm IOActive said in a new report.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Here’s a new way to prevent cyberattacks on home devices

Credit to Author: Matt Hamblen| Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2017 05:57:00 -0800

BARCELONA — Homeowners worried about cybersecurity attacks on IP-connected devices like lights, baby monitors, home security systems and cameras, will soon be able to take advantage of a $200 network monitoring device called Dojo.

The device was shown at Mobile World Congress here this week and will go on sale online in April. While the Dojo device isn’t intended to provide enterprise-level security, it could be used to help, in a small way, in warding off massive attacks like the one that used the Mirai botnet which took advantage of unsecure, consumer-grade cameras and other devices last October.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

This tiny chip could revolutionize smartphone and IOT security

Credit to Author: Martyn Williams| Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2017 04:43:00 -0800

Engineers at South Korea’s SK Telecom have developed a tiny chip that could help secure communications on a myriad of portable electronics and IOT devices.

The chip is just 5 millimeters square — smaller than a fingernail — and can generate mathematically provable random numbers. Such numbers are the basis for highly-secure encryption systems and producing them in such a small package hasn’t been possible until now.

The chip, on show at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, could be in sample production as early as March this year and will cost a few dollars once in commercial production, said Sean Kwak, director at SK Telecom’s quantum technology lab.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Smart teddy bears involved in a contentious data breach

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2017 05:09:00 -0800

If you own a stuffed animal from CloudPets, then you better change your password to the product. The toys — which can receive and send voice messages from children and parents — have been involved in a data breach involving more than 800,000 user accounts.

The breach, which grabbed headlines on Monday, is raising concerns from security researchers because it may have given hackers access to voice recordings from the toy’s customers. But the company behind the products, Spiral Toys, is denying that any customers were hacked. 

“Were voice recordings stolen? Absolutely not,” said Mark Myers, CEO of the company.

Security researcher Troy Hunt, who tracks data breaches, brought the incident to light on Monday. Hackers appear to have accessed an exposed CloudPets’ database, which contained email addresses and hashed passwords, and they even sought to ransom the information back in January, he said in a blog post.

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SecuritySophos

Live from RSA Conference 2017: We’re talking IoT threats and ransomware

Credit to Author: Bill Brenner| Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 10:32:41 +0000

Greetings from RSA Conference 2017. This year we’ve been taking advantage of Facebook Live* to help us deliver news from the show floor. Here, I talk to Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist in the Office of the CTO, about IoT threats and ransomware. If you’re at the show and have some questions of your own […]

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