HOME ELECTRIC APPLIANCES WATCHING YOU

HOME ELECTRIC APPLIANCES WATCHING YOU

General

DREAMTECH

1. Our lives seem to revolve around the internet. So it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that we attempt to connect as many aspects of our lives to the web as possible. The concept is simple. If we connect everything in our house to the Internet, from home appliances and lighting systems to door locks and climate controls, we will be able to control all of them remotely, making our lives easier. Many people have expressed genuine concerns over how secure these automated living spaces actually are. These are concerns you should definitely consider as you prepare to turn your home into an interconnected domain.

Smart Home

2. Smart homes are often looked at as the wave of the future, but the proliferation of the technology should always come with a word of caution. People who adopt smart home technology need to know about some of the biggest security concerns revolving around not only their appliances but the central hub for controlling these gadgets: the smartphone.

TV Watching You

3. Samsung televisions are eavesdropping on their owners. If you have one of their Internet-connected smart TVs, you can turn on a voice command feature that saves you the trouble of finding the remote, pushing buttons and scrolling through menus. But making that feature work requires the television to listen to everything you say. And what you say isn't just processed by the television; it may be forwarded over the Internet for remote processing. 

4. Smart TVs are certainly a convenient device, but if hackers gain entry to it, you could be in for a world of trouble. Many smart TVs come with a camera. Cyber attackers who hack the device can then use that camera to spy on you and your family, even if you don’t have the television on. Due to a general lack of security standards, some hackers can even lock you out of your television entirely and ask that you pay some kind of ransom just to have access to it again.

5. TVs may track what you watch. Some LG TVs were found to spy on not only what channels were being watched but even transmitted back to LG the names of files on USB drives connected to the TV. Hackers have also demonstrated that they can hack some models of Samsung TVs and use them as vehicles to capture data from networks to which they are attached and even watch whatever the cameras built in to the televisions see.

Phone and Comp Watching You

6. Your smartphones and comp, of course, listens to you when you are making audio and video calls. But the microphones are always there, and there are ways a hacker, govt, or clever coy can turn those microphones on without our knowledge. Sometimes we turn them on ourselves. Even if you don't speak, your comp are paying attention. Gmail listens to everything you write and shows you advertising based on it. It might feel as if you're never alone. 

7. Facebook does the same with everything you write on that platform, and even listens to the things you type but don't post. The Internet of Things is full of listeners. Newer cars contain computers that record speed, steering wheel position, pedal pressure, even tire pressure. Your cell phone records your precise location at all times you have it on and possibly even when you turn it off. 

Kitchen Appliances

8. Many recent generation kitchen appliances come equipped with connectivity that allows for great convenience. But this benefit comes at a price potential spying and security risks. Information about when you wake up in the morning and your shopping habits can help robbers target your home. Furthermore potential vulnerabilities have been reported in smart kitchen devices for quite some time and less than a month ago, a smart refrigerator was found to have been used by hackers in a malicious email attack. 

DVR/Cable-Box/Satellite TV Receiver

9. Providers of TV programming can easily track what you are watching or recording and can leverage that info to target advertisements more efficiently. Depending on svc agreements - providers could potentially even sell this type of info to others, and, of course, they are likely to furnish this info to the govt if so instructed.

Modem And Internet Service Provider (ISP)

10. If it wanted to, or was asked by the Govt to do so, your ISP could easily compile a list of Internet sites with which you have communicated. It may be possible for some of their technical employees to do so even if the providers themselves declined to spy as such. Worse yet, since people often subscribe to Internet service from the same providers as they do TV service, a single party may know a lot more about you then you might think.

Webcam Or Home Security Cameras

11. On that note, malware installed on your comp may take control of the machine’s webcam and record you by taking photos or video even when you think the camera is off. Miss Teen USA was allegedly blackmailed by a hacker who took control of her laptop’s webcam and photographed her naked when she thought the camera was not on. Likewise, malware on computers or hackers operating on those machines could potentially intercept transmissions from security cameras attached to the same network as the devices. Some cameras transmit data unencrypted and copy such videos for their own systems. 

Telephone

12. Phone companies also track phone calls as they need call info for their billing systems. So, even if you use an old and analog phone, your calls may be tracked. If you are receiving phone svc from the same provider as you get your Internet and/or TV svc, phone records are yet another element of info that a single party knows about you.

Lights, Home Entertainment And Home Alarm Sys

13. Different home entertainment, newer lighting and home security sys can be controlled via Wi-Fi or even across the Internet. Remote control is a great convenience but it also raises questions as to whether info is reported to outside parties. Does your alarm provider get notified every time you come and go? Is information about your choice of audio entertainment relayed to manufacturers of the eqpt on which it is played or the supplier of the music? Could hackers gather info from smart lighting, entertainment, or security devices or the networks on which they communicate to determine patterns of when you are home, when you are likely to have company over and when your house is empty?

Thermostat (Heat and/or Air Conditioning)

14. Internet connected thermostats are now available. They provide great convenience but might they also be transmitting info about your preferences to others? Google’s acquisition of Nest has raised interest in this issue but Nest is not the only provider of such technology. There are even products distributed by utilities that raise concerns. 

Laundry Eqpt

15. Washers and dryers that connect to the Internet may report info that users may not realize is being shared and that if intercepted or misused, could help criminals identify when you are home and when you are not.

Med Apparatus

16. It is not news that pacemakers, insulin pumps, and other medical devices can be hacked. But even normal functioning devices may spy on you. Different pacemakers relay patient status info over the Internet which may be valuable in some cases but also creates risks. Could unauthorized parties obtain info from such data in transmit? What if a criminal sent out phony 'pacemaker impersonating' messages stating that a patient is in distress in order to have his physician instruct him to go to the hospital – and leave his home vulnerable?

iPod or Other Entertainment Apparatus

17. There are still millions of people using specialized non phone equipped electronic devices but these devices are often Wi-Fi enabled and pose similar to risks to smartphones as discussed above. Your choices and preferences are likely being tracked, of course, if you are reading books or magazines, watching videos, or listening to audio supplied by an online provider. 

Privacy Concern

18. This discovery surprised people but it shouldn't have. The things around us are increasingly computerized and increasingly connected to the Internet. And most of them are listening. New privacy concerns aren’t limited to smart TVs and phones. Seemingly innocent everyday items are also presenting new threats to our personal privacy.

19. Vendors may attempt to address some of the aforementioned concerns but many of the issues are sure to remain for quite some time. So keep in mind the privacy risks and act accordingly if you want to take advantage of the benefits of connectivity and smart devices.

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Warmly,

Md. Lutful Huda 

CEO

Dreamwork Technology

Note:

Prepared by Major (R) Md. Lutful Huda, presently Chairman of TIDAC and Dreamwork Limited, Editor In Chief of 'Crime and Justice' Journal