Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

[hexjunkie]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Hah thanks, fixed it.

And yes, my friend goes on and on about "the cool networking stuff he can do" with blender. I think I'm going to run some cat5 to everything in my house just to make people think I'm ultra-high-tech.

• Toasters
• Lightbulbs
• Ceiling fans
• Toilets
• Framed pictures
• The drapes
• Beer steins

It's like web3.0 just vomited its way into my life.

Another DefCon innovation :)

Though Lights, Ceiling Fans, toilets, digital picture frames, drapes have all been done...

though a network controlled beer tap that scripts the pouring of beer off a laser sensor? hmm RC bar 2.0?

[SHA-hi]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

I think I found where they came up with the idea of a network blender. They're probably cornfuzing it with Blender.org. Doesn't that have a network part that allows the tying of multiple machines together for rendering?

Hah thanks, fixed it.

And yes, my friend goes on and on about "the cool networking stuff he can do" with blender. I think I'm going to run some cat5 to everything in my house just to make people think I'm ultra-high-tech.

• Toasters
• Lightbulbs
• Ceiling fans
• Toilets
• Framed pictures
• The drapes
• Beer steins

It's like web3.0 just vomited its way into my life.

[streaker69]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Well, they've connected vending machines but that's more about setting the price and collecting data. Again, I haven't found one networked blender for resale or ever come across one in a store. I'd love to know where this stuff comes from. It's like saying the carpenters sell you music boxes so you get distracted by them because they want to sneak in late at night and wreak up the place

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

I think I found where they came up with the idea of a network blender. They're probably cornfuzing it with Blender.org. Doesn't that have a network part that allows the tying of multiple machines together for rendering?

[SHA-hi]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Well, they've connected vending machines but that's more about setting the price and collecting data. Again, I haven't found one networked blender for resale or ever come across one in a store. I'd love to know where this stuff comes from. It's like saying the carpenters sell you music boxes so you get distracted by them because they want to sneak in late at night and wreck up the place

[streaker69]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

one would think any of the home automation utilities with network connectivity could make a blender turn on and off via the network. why anyone would do this is beyond me but I guess people could.

You're right in that regards, it's quite simple to turn on any appliance remotely, the problem comes from, do you really want to turn on something that's potentially dangerous to another person unless you can see that it's safe to turn on?

Coming from an industrial automation background, I can tell you that it's not always a good idea to turn on equipment unless you can see it.

I cannot think of any good reason to have a network blender, but a few years ago a guy made a network toaster that would burn the morning weather report into his toast. In the very early days of the internet there were several colleges that had internet connected appliances, I know there was a coffee maker, and a soda machine. One guy had hooked up the bathroom door at his office to indicate if someone was inside or not.

Right now, the only things that I can think of that would be useful for internet connectivity would be HVAC, Fridge/Freezer, lighting controls, window blinds, sprinkler systems and pool pumps. I'd think anything more than that is just superfluous and silly.

[hexjunkie]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

one would think any of the home automation utilities with network connectivity could make a blender turn on and off via the network. why anyone would do this is beyond me but I guess people could.

[SHA-hi]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

So uhh, I just googled around...

Can someone please link me to a page where I can buy these internet blenders?

[streaker69]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Attacking the blender might be good for a few yucks as a practical joke on a buddy, but the attack itself isn't going to be of much use in a realistic way. I'm more concerned that an undetected exploit on an embedded device might be used as a jumping off point in an attack on an server within an enterprise network.

You mean like a possibly a video surveillance server with a *nix variant installed accessible from the public internet, with the default root password not change?

Your margaritas can be made fresh when you get home. They already have washers and dryers that you can start over the net.

They also have Fridges that can connect, and report about failures to the company and repair services can then be arranged.

Personally, I like the idea of cooling devices being connected, it would be nice to know if your compressor conks out and it can alert you before it warms up and you lose a freezer full of food.

Of course, these things can tie into a more devious nature as well.

[TFB Time]
With more and more appliances, HVAC and Hot water heaters having this kind of technology tied into them, plus with the ever expanding installation of Smart Meters, a third party could take control of the power consumption of these devices, and possibly turn them off at will.

Or a malicious person could do that as well since we all know these systems will be far from secure.
[/TFB Time]

[astcell]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Sorry if I just don't get this, but...what exactly would be the point of having your blender in your network?

Al

Your margaritas can be made fresh when you get home. They already have washers and dryers that you can start over the net.

[astcell]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Yea watch that dryer. That explains your SOCKS error.

[alklloyd]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Sorry if I just don't get this, but...what exactly would be the point of having your blender in your network?

Al

[sintax_error]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Screw the blender. It's the dryer that makes me nervous, been plotting against me for years. Yeah, bascule, I've been noticing that same trend as well, but it's not that Fox networks are reporting more of the lulzy hacker stories. It's just that Fox reporters tend to have a more deer in the headlights look and the producers insist on the bad guy movie music while they're doing it. Other networks still have goofy ass stories like this, just that some networks tend to go more in the "We're all gonna die" direction than others.

[bascule]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Agreed. But do the "experts" share some responsibility for their quotes that tend to create the hype?

I'd hope it's the news organization's job to select the "experts" they want to give a voice to. When it comes to Fox news affiliates there seems to be a systemic problem, particularly when it comes to "hackers" and issues of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

A Fox report which went viral comparing 4chan to terrorists blowing up a van practically gave birth to "Anonymous". There was a recent Fox "story" which was more or less "Is that Girl with the Dragon Tattoo shit for real? We should report on it." Our local Fox affiliate has one of the most hilarious videos ever made about wardriving.

I'm not saying that non-Fox affiliated stations have some miraculous gift at picking their sources, but it seems like the majority of lulzy hacking-related stories come out of Fox-affiliated stations.

[astcell]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

Time to throw away my blender to lessen the chances of a break in.

[streaker69]

Re: Fox sez: Hackers can take control of your blender!

I'm actually less concerned about hackers taking over my blender or my fridge than I am about the Green Comet that's going to pass between the earth and the moon and make all the machinery come alive and start killing all of us.