Search Results for "embedded device"

Research: IoT Hubs Expose Connected Homes to Hackers

In-brief: A study of common connected home gateways finds lax security that could expose consumers to snooping or even malicious attacks, according to the application security firm Veracode. 

Update: White House Drone Debacle Raises IoT Governance Questions

In-brief: Unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by the Chinese firm DJI will be blocked from flying over the U.S. Capitol according to a statement by the company. The move raises important questions about the role that connected device makers will play in determining how, when and where customers use their products. (Update adds commentary from Justin Davis of Dronecamps.com – PFR Jan 29, 2015 17:30)

an image of a metal tower of Power Lines

New Firm Sniffs Power Consumption to detect Malware

  In-brief: A new company, PFP Cybersecurity, says it can detect malware infections almost instantly by analyzing changes in the way infected devices consume power. The company is targeting industrial control system and critical infrastructure with new products. 

The Enduring Terribleness of Home Router Security Matters to IoT

Last week, home broadband router maker ASUS was the latest vendor to issue an emergency patch for a critical vulnerability in its products. This, after proof-of-concept exploit code was released for the so-called “Inforsvr” vulnerability that affects several ASUS home routers. That vulnerability -if left unpatched – would allow anyone with access to a home- or small business network that used an ASUS broadband router to, essentially, commandeer the device. The “infosvr” feature is typically used for device discovery by the ASUS Wireless Router Device Discovery Utility, but the service also allowed unauthenticated users to execute commands through it using the “root” permissions, according to researcher Friedrich Postelstorfer, who created a proof of concept exploit for the security hole and released it on January 4. The exploit code finally prompted a patch from ASUS on January 13. The company had spent months analyzing the issue and working on a fix. Patch aside, it has been a worrying month for the […]

The Skinny on IoTivity, the New, Open Source IoT Framework

  In brief: The Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) introduced a new, open source framework to connect billions of smart devices from a wide variety of vendors. But has the IoT standards horse already left the barn?