Protect Yourself — ‘They’ Don’t Care/Won’t Bother
by Miki Saxon
Do you invite strangers into your home and let them to listen to your most personal conversations or view your most intimate moments?
Would you leave them alone with your kids to say what they pleased using unquotable language?
Would you stand by while they rummaged through your files copying what they pleased, leaving chaos behind and demanding payment so you could clean up the mess?
No?
Chances are you already do.
You invite them in with every connected device you buy.
Even vaunted Apple isn’t immune.
Security hasn’t been a high priority for companies around the globe, especially those running startups.
Consider the saga of a doll called Cayla from Genesis Toys; banned in Germany and under investigation in the US.
Cayla and a similar toy, i-Que, made by the same company are Internet-connected and talk and interact with children by recording their conversations.
CloudPets are stuffed animals made by Spiral Toys, which didn’t even bother to secure their database.
In addition to storing the customer databases in a publicly accessible location, Spiral Toys also used an Amazon-hosted service with no authorization required to store the recordings, customer profile pictures, children’s names, and their relationships to parents, relatives, and friends.
Samsung’s smart refrigerator was hacked yielding up G-mail logins, which, in turn, can yield up your whole on-line life.
Besides the fridge, the hackers also found 25 vulnerabilities in 14 allegedly smart devices, including scales, coffee makers, wireless cameras, locks, home automation hubs, and fingerprint readers.
Pretty lame, considering that in January 2014 security was ranked as the top spending priority for CIOs and 75% said it would increase in 2015.
Makes you wonder what it was spent on.
European countries, such as Germany and Denmark, have strong privacy laws and simply ban these products, but I doubt our government will do more than hold hearings and wring their hands.
So it’s up to you.
Your major protection is very simple.
- Don‘t buy connected devices unless you really can’t live without them.
For those you do buy don’t expect anything from the manufacturer.
- Learn how to reset the passwords and choose strong ones.
- Don’t use all-purpose logins, such as those from Facebook or Google — no matter how convenient they are.
It’s called “personal responsibility.”
If you’re not familiar with the idea ask your parents — or, more likely, your grandparents.
Image credit: cea +
