embedded device

EFF wants to make Wi-Fi routers more secure | theguardian.com

Home routers and wi-fi access points are the canaries in the coal mine for security on the Internet of Things. Simply put: they’re ubiquitous, Internet-connected and innocuous. Unlike mobile phones, wi-fi routers aren’t in your pocket – buzzing and ringing and demanding your attention. In fact, it’s safe to be that the vast majority of Internet users are concerned wouldn’t know how to connect- and log in to their router if they had to. But appearances can deceive. Broadband routers are, indeed, mini computers that run a fully featured operating system and are perfectly capable of being attacked, compromised and manipulated. We have already seen examples of modern malware spreading between these devices. In March, the security firm Team Cymru published a report (PDF) describing what it claimed was a compromise of 300,000 small office and home office (SOHO) wireless routers that was linked to cyber criminal campaigns targeting online banking customers. In January, […]

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Chinese Firm Claims To Hack Tesla Model S To Win Security Contest – chicagotribune.com

A mainland China security firm, Qihoo 360 Technology Co., claims it has found a way to hack into systems that control Tesla’s Model S sedan, controlling features like the door locks, car horn and sunroof even while the vehicle was being operated, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The hack was in response to a contest associated with the SysCan security conference in Beijing. As reported by The Security Ledger, that contest offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could hack the Model S. Bloomberg reporter Ma Jie cited this post on the company’s Sina Weibo account as proof of the compromise. Tranlated (via Google), the post reads: “Our safety performance Tesla recently conducted a series of tests and found that the certificate can be used to unlock the remote control of the vehicle, whistle, flash and so on. And can open the sunroof while driving the vehicle. Tesla owners […]

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Is It Time For Customs To Inspect Software? | Veracode Blog

If you want to import beef, eggs or chicken into the U.S., you need to get your cargo past inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Not so hardware and software imported into the U.S. and sold to domestic corporations. But a spate of stories about products shipping with malicious software raises the question: is it time for random audits to expose compromised supply chains? Concerns about ‘certified, pre-pwned’ hardware and software are nothing new. In fact, they’ve permeated the board rooms of technology and defense firms, as well as the halls of power in Washington, D.C. for years. The U.S. Congress conducted a high profile investigation of Chinese networking equipment maker ZTE in 2012 with the sole purpose of exploring links between the company and The People’s Liberation Army, and (unfounded) allegations that products sold by the companies were pre-loaded with spyware. Of course, now we know that such […]

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Nest, Samsung and AMD Back Thread For Home Automation

A week that has already been full of standards news for the Internet of Things added more with the unveiling of Thread, a proposed communications standard backed by Google’s NEST group that promises a “new and better way to connect products in the home.” Google was joined by Samsung, Freescale Semiconductor, ARM, smart lock maker Yale Security and Big Ass Fans (favorite company name ever) in forming The Thread Group to promote Thread. In a press release on Tuesday, the group said that the Internet of Things presents unique challenges that are not well met by existing wireless communications technologies such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee and Z-Wave. In contrast to those technologies, Thread focuses exclusively on network connectivity, not application-layer exchanges and connection management. Thread Group says existing application protocols and IoT platforms can easily run on Thread networks. Specifically, it uses 6LoWPAN (IPV6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks) to create 802.15.4-standard mesh networks of smart […]

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Intel Promotes ‘Trustlets’ To Secure Embedded Devices

The integrity of data stored on- and transmitted between Internet-connected embedded devices is one of the biggest technical hurdles standing in the way of widespread adoption of Internet of Things technology. For one thing: embedded devices like wearable technology and “smart” infrastructure are often deployed on simple, inexpensive and resource constrained hardware. Unlike laptops or even smart phones, these are purpose-built devices that, by design, run for long periods in remote deployments, with extremely constrained features and low power consumption that is the result of limited processing power and memory. [Read Security Ledger’s coverage of connected vehicles.] Now Intel is promoting a platform that it says can bridge the gap and provide robust security features even for resource-constrained Internet of Things devices like wearables and connected vehicles. Back in April, the Intel Labs  unveiled the results of joint research with Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany. The researchers have developed a platform, dubbed TrustLite […]

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