Big fan of this: smart curtains company Slide is shutting down, but they offer one last update which enables its consumers to keep their curtains running through a local API. Great solution for an increasingly prevalent situation in which consumers are left with IoT devices that no longer function because the manufacturer stops existing (see VanMoof, Gigaset, and more).
The U.S. government is warning that smart locks securing entry to an estimated 50,000 dwellings nationwide contain hard-coded credentials that can be used to remotely open any of the locks. The lock's maker Chirp Systems remains unresponsive, even though it was first notified about the critical weakness in March 2021. Meanwhile, Chirp's parent company, RealPage, Inc., is being sued by multiple U.S. states for allegedly colluding with landlords to illegally raise rents.
Am I the only person who connects my TV to the Internet? I ask because people commenting on an LG vulnerability story posted to a certain tech news site say it's cray cray and you should instead either go without or use a Roku or AppleTV to stream.
@dangoodin Many (most?) home network routers support Guest networks that can be setup to isolate traffic from the main network (and from all other devices). I often recommend using the Guest network for all IoT devices (smart TV's, light bulbs, sound bars, cameras, etc...). Reserve - use the main only for your important - core home computing. Put all visitors, kids friends, on that network as well. Its not a perfect solution, and it is not as easy to setup as it should be. Simpler than home VLans for IoT :) #IoT#infosec#guestnetwork
edit - Using this Guest network approach for IoT breaks some services, like the LG's app to control the TV. It is a tradeoff... Many (most?) of the devices use Cloud services so moving the device to the isolated Guest network does not break main functionality. Tradeoffs ,yes.
One of the most frustrating things in modern technology is the effort spent trying to artificially restrict abundance. Take, for example, this tale from museum-worker Aaron Cope: I was out with a friend who worked for Twitter and I asked them whether it would be possible for the museum to “create 200,000 Twitter accounts, one […]
Inspired by the article written by @Edent on the Fediverse of Things (#iot, #wot), I experimented with using an LLM to interpret home automation requests that could be sent using #ActivityPub and convert them to JSON device commands. I documented the results in the following blog article: https://www.stevebate.net/fediverse-of-things-and-llms/
I run my #Apple devices in lockdown mode, have completely disabled Siri, and only use "Find My" from #iCloud functionality. I run my own local fileserver for sensitive backups, my own #cloud / #filesharing on a dedicated server and don't have any #IoT devices at home. Backups and storage is tiered by sensitivity. Paranoid? Not really, just prudent #privacy and #security hardening when working in #infosec field. Running all this also means that I get to eat my own #cybersecurity dogfood.
🆕 blog! “Receive push notifications from your rice cooker”
I have a lovely, and reasonably priced, Mini Panda Rice Cooker. It does not have any SmartHome features. You put in water and rice, press a button, it cooks rice. Nice! The only problem is - I don't know how long the rice will take to cook. It uses "Fuzzy Logic" to work out exactly […]
“The Internet of Things is the Internet of Things That Spy on You.
The Internet of Things is not a revolutionary concept. It is the evolving manifestation of the business model of corporate surveillance. It is the effort to tap the veins now that the arteries of our data are being successfully drained; it is [an] effort to climb into the branches, now that the low-hanging fruit has been picked.”
I hope we reach a point soon where things being “not-smart” (analog, simple tactile controls, not connected to WiFi for dubious reasons) becomes a point of differentiation. I would happily pay more so my oven doesn’t monetize data about what I’m cooking, for instance. #iot#privacy
Firstly, a warm welcome to @russell_stuart - Russell is the Treasurer of @linuxaustralia and of this year's @everythingopen, which is happening in #Gladstone in about 6 weeks.
Russell is an unsung hero of #OpenSource in Australia - it's his diligence and hard work that has kept the books straight for Linux Aus and auspiced conferences for several years now 👋
I do ransomware response for really critical infrastructure - like electric power, water, transit systems, manufacturing, oil for a living. I have to be mostly be emotionally detached, even when lives are at risk - that's triage.
Sometimes, when nobody gets hurt I even raise an eyebrow or raise a glass at a new tactic. But let's make one thing clear:
If you ransom a children's cancer hospital, you are irredeemable scum. You know exactly what you're doing, and you chose to potentially delay or disrupt treatment for suffering little kids.
@hacks4pancakes This subject, disrupting hospital operations, has piqued my interest over the last few years. IIRC there was a hospital ward that had to turn away patients near the height of the pandemic; several more incidents since then.
I will say there seems to be an over-dependency on Internet tech within major services and infrastructure.
Mądre żarówki, najlepiej rgb, z aplikacją w której mogę ustawić automatyzacje (włącz przed zachodem słońca, wyłącz przed wschodem, włącz, wyłącz), najlepiej takie nie za 40$/szt (bo wiem że i tacy ludzie tu są), najlepiej żeby nie wymagały dodatkowych wydatków, po prostu plug & play.
Ktoś, coś?
Obecnie miałem jakieś chińskie na Tuya/Smart Life - Hykkera i Gosund, ale ostatnio stwierdziły że polegną także szukam czegoś poważniejszego. Zamocowane będą w lampkach w sypialni i salonie, więc będą robić za alternatywę dla "górnego światła", które mnie uber denerwuje.