How do you secure your smart home against hacker attacks?

Smart homes, in which lighting, heating systems, alarms and even locks can be operated via the internet, are now a reality. Only that remote control can also be taken over by a hacker, who can get inside without special effort

It turns out that there are many more devices that can fall prey to hackers in today's homes, and many of them would be difficult to part with. This is not just about computers. For example, entertainment devices such as televisions, audio equipment and games consoles are also vulnerable to attacks. At the beginning of August, two American computer scientists, Aaron Grattafiori and Josh Yavor, announced that they had managed to take control of the camera built into several models of Samsung Smart TVs manufactured in 2012. They demonstrated that they were able to remotely turn on the camera and view the images it transmitted so that those sitting in front of the TV did not even know about it.

Smart home systems, i.e. those that control building automation, are not secure either. Google's Australian office in Sydney found this out. In May this year, the rooms of the Wharf7 high-rise building, where the office is located, suddenly started to get very hot. It turned out that two American IT security specialists Billy Rios and Terry McCorkle had hacked into the computer system controlling the office building. They were not only able to remotely regulate the temperature in the rooms, but also control the alarm systems. They found the office building thanks to Shodan, a search engine popular among hackers, which allows them to find connected devices with low security. Rios and McCorkle later argued that they had used this method to locate thousands of buildings around the world, including hospitals, banks and even the headquarters of government agencies.

The TV watches you sleep

Because it is thoughtless to design a TV set with software loaded into RAM. It would be advisable to put the programs in ROM or EPROM. The data blocks can be in ROM, but the hardwired read line unlocked only for the factory program in ROM. How many users are interested in changing the software ? Not many, and anyway it is not why the company differentiates the unlocked options so that the user buys a cheaper tv and runs the more expensive version.
This is a shot in its own foot by the manufacturer.

wieswas wrote:

Programs should be placed in ROM or EPROM. The data blocks can be in ROM, but the hardwired read line unlocked only for the factory program in ROM. How many users are interested in changing the software ? Not many, and that's not why the company differentiates the unlocked options anyway.

Unfortunately, locking the software change is a shot in the manufacturer's foot. Systems become elaborate and poorly tested, and customers expect the manufacturer to provide updates and new functionality. Without the ability to change the software in the event of a fault or the discovery of a hole, the module can only be discarded.

A thief can rob you and a hacker can take control...normal. You need to protect yourself.
There is a lock on the door and a smart firewall at the entrance to the network.
Both the lock and the firewall can be better or worse and the police are there for burglary.
What is there to discuss? Just the fact that there should be a firewall?

This thread is about making users aware that such a system can also be hacked into and should be well protected (which is often completely overlooked).

@Herbatniczek - the police are for hacking ? - good for you

The problem is broader and applies to hardware in general and various simply no one assumed that someone would be there to poke around. And the truth is that the computer is not a box with a monitor, nowadays computers are everywhere and have various interfaces through which you can break into them and break something.
The fact that someone assumed that only an idiot would hack a pacemaker does not mean that there will not be such an idiot. This is all the more reason to take precautions.

Everything that has a remote interface or api can be hacked, for example BF.
The plague are standard passwords and interface available to the public personally do not connect anything to the network before changing passwords, and if there is the option of logins and blocking the standard.

As for firmware
There is no harm in giving a hardwired switch.
Is there a jumper on the MOBO in the PC? there is, has anyone ever reprogrammed the bios without changing it in normal mode without other dances?
You simply need validation that it was the user who triggered the update.
Unfortunately, when something processes zeros and ones, it's the cleanest way to force it to prevail the way we want it to.

Radio data transmissions will be particularly susceptible in the near future.