There is more alarming security news for consumers with smart devices at home: hackers can take remote control of video cameras, thermostats, smart locks or other IoT devices by exploiting vulnerabilities discovered in Samsung’s SmartThings Hub, according to a report by Cisco Systems’ Talos research group.
Smart home security starts at home, according to researcher Michael Sverdlin who says that consumers should explore the security of their smart home technology and consider simple modifications or hacks to remove insecure or promiscuous features.
In this episode of the podcast (#101): will the Internet of Things enable a glorious future of intelligent and subservient “things”? Or will it birth “ink jet nation:” a dystopia of closed and expensive technology silos that use patents, software licensing and lawsuits constrain the use, reuse and repair of connected things? We talk to author and activist Cory Doctorow following his keynote at last week’s Security of Things Forum. Also: the city of Atlanta has made headlines after a ransomware outbreak crippled city services. But the city may have more to worry about: wireless phishing attacks targeting government employees and elected officials. We speak with Dror Liwer of the firm Coronet about what they found.
In this week’s episode of The Security Ledger Podcast (#99), we bring you an exclusive interview with Eric Lundgren, the celebrated entrepreneur who has helped revolutionize the recycling of electronic waste through his company IT Asset Partners, but who will soon start serving a 13 month jail sentence for copyright infringement for distributing Microsoft Windows “restore CDs.” Together, we wonder if The Internet of Things is leading us into a future in which giant software companies and thing makers use copyright law and the courts to prosecute non-sanctioned use of their technology.
In this week’s Security Ledger Podcast (#84): The 1990s era Digital Millennium Copyright Act made it a crime to subvert copy protections in software and hardware. We speak with Cory Doctorow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about his group’s efforts to win an exemption from that law for voice assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Also: February is Black History Month in the United States. We interview Corey Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of the firm Rapid 7 about what it means to be a black man in the information security industry and about his path to the field.
