The ransomware hack message that Tierney and Munro were able to display on the vulnerable thermostat. (Image: Ken Munro)
Are you continuously facing ransom to unlock your laptop or mobile device? Well, these malicious locks on your devices might leave you feeling a little cold, or hot. Theoretically, your home or business “smart” thermostat could turn against you. Currently, in the zenith of internet-connected devices and ransomware, hypothetical dangers are increasingly becoming a shocking reality.
Last week, two white hat technicians simulated what could happen if someone infiltrated your everyday smart device, a thermostat. The two researchers, Andrew Tierney and Ken Munro who performed the hack, aimed to make a point. There is a reality to the concept of our simple devices faltering when it comes to secure precautions of our network.
“We don’t have any control over our devices, and don’t know what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” Tierney told Motherboard. “And if they start doing something you don’t understand, you don’t have a way of dealing with it.”
The thermostat ransomware act was demonstrated at a hacking conference, Def Con. This raised the eyebrows of those who were initially denying the possibility of it ever being a possibility. Although the actual hack would be an extremely difficult heist to pull, the hack would completely paralyze your thermostat. Leaving the temperature at the least likely to be desired.
In the demonstration, the researchers noted there would need to be a physical presence and an SD card chip inserted into the device for the thermostat to be deemed inoperable. For the time being, it makes this hack very unlikely to happen in your home, but raises more questions as to why are we making these devices vulnerable enough to be controlled maliciously, moreover, these “smart devices” connected to your WiFi represent an even bigger danger lurking in blindsided access points.
