Dec 21, 2016

Smart homes haunted by the cyber-ghost of Christmas future

One nightmare vision for the future is an internet plagued with DDoS attacks based on IoT devices, including some sitting under your Christmas tree this year. We have the potential to network a whole new generation of smart devices: everything from fridges, kettles and toasters to the systems that heat your home and keep an eye on your cat. As you can expect something like a fridge to last many, many years we have the spectre of an IoT in 10 or even 20 years' time that is populated by devices being bought now, or in the very near future, whose manufacturers may no longer be in business or - even if they are - not interested in updating decades-old kit. You could take the bah humbug approach and say that you will never buy a device that is either smart or connected, but that won't work. If you are lucky enough to receive a smart networked device this Christmas the first thing you should do is check to see if it has a default username and password that needs changing.

Read the full story

 Related companies

Make a complaint about Smart by viewing their customer service contacts.