Smart homes are easy targets for hackers

SAN FRANCISCO: Smart homes that let residents control alarms, locks and more over the internet are opening doors for crooks with hacker skills, according to computer security specialists.

“The smart home trend is growing, and it evolves quickly into a story of security,” Trustwave managing consultant Daniel Crowley said.

“Connecting things to a network opens up a whole range of vectors of attack, and when you are talking door locks, garage doors, and alarm controls it gets scary.”

Crowley and Trustwave colleague David Bryan found security “pretty poor” on the home networking devices they studied.

“If someone can access your home network, but doesn’t have a key to your home, they can still unlock your door and get in,” Crowley said of what he found in gear on the market.

Trustwave researchers shared their findings yesterdaywith peers at a premier Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas .

A vulnerability of particular concern to the researchers was that once hackers joined local home networks, perhaps through poorly protected wireless routers or using malware slipped on to computers, they could control devices with no password or other authentication required.

And the trend of providing people with smartphone applications for controlling smart home devices while away means that crooks who hack into handsets could potentially grab the reins, according to the researchers. – Sapa-AFP