Monitor and secure your home IoT appliances
En Guarde!
Many IoT devices are so poorly protected against attacks that it is easy for an intruder to slip inside. With the right tools and best practices, you can bar the door.
The "S" in IoT stands for security – as a common saying goes. The recent history of IoT development is paved with absurd examples of security falling by the wayside. One oft-reported tale tells of a Bluetooth-controllable water closet with the pairing code 0000 that could not be changed. Another example is the smart breast pump that unexpectedly turned innocent mothers into botnet operators. But all the horror stories have not diminished the success of IoT. The army of smart helpers in households is growing all the time. Smart lights, smart thermostats, smart ovens, smart sockets, smart coffee machines …
As always: New technology brings the potential for misuse. In the context of IoT, many users do not understand the threat scenario posed by potentially problematic devices. For instance, what would an attacker gain from taking control of a smart washing machine? But things are different if you look at smart blinds and, above all, smart lighting control. Anyone who gains access to your Philips Hue configuration (Figure 1) can see when you are at home and, more ominously, when you are not. This information is a wonderful tool for planning break-ins. Insecure thermostats on radiators can also become a problem; imagine if a mischievous teenager or angry neighbor could turn your apartment into a sauna. If they do this in a clever way and then change the access credentials for the thermostat control center, your heating will keep running at full blast without you being able to do anything about it.
Figure 1: Smart lighting devices like Hue lamps by Philips usually use Zigbee to communicate. Using Zigbee reduces the attack vector, but the need for a hub means you still face some residual risk. © Philips
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.