Avast security researcher Martin Hron released a video of him brewing a new kind of trouble in a Smarter coffee maker: A ransom message.
“When turned on for the first time, the coffee maker works in a local mode and it creates its own Wi-Fi network that the hopeful coffee drinker first connects to in order to set up the device,” explains Hron in a blog post. The problem is, there’s hardly any encryption, authorization or authentication. Anyone who can access the network can control the coffee maker by simply changing the device’s IP address.
When Hron learned of this vulnerability, he decided to experiment. He hijacked the Smarter coffee maker via Wi-Fi, changed the machine’s firmware and turned it into a ransom machine.
“We created ransomware that when triggered renders the coffee maker unusable and asks for ransom, while at the same time turning on the hotbed, water dispensing heating element, permanently and spinning up the grinder, forever, displaying the ransom message and beeping,” Hron wrote.
The experiment shines a new spotlight on public Wi-Fi networks, which may make some question the credibility of IoT devices.
Keep in mind that Smarter no longer supports the coffee maker in the experiment. In a bid to move to a safer and more secure platform, the company upgraded its devices’ security in 2017. Newer versions of the Smarter iKettle don’t share this vulnerability.
-
Brother MFC-L8970CDW reviewReviews Brother's MFC L8970CDW sits at the top of its new color laser range – but is it worth the premium?
-
Post-cloud strategy: Architecting the next enterprise stackAs enterprises rethink their dependence on hyperscale, hybrid architectures are emerging as the new foundation for resilient, AI-ready infrastructure
-
Ransomware cartels are fragmenting into volatile splinter groups, warns Met Police cyber chiefNews Commoditized "cyber crime bazaars" and AI data mining are forcing law enforcement to rewrite its playbook
-
New ransomware threat group, The Gentlemen, has become one of the most active ransomware operators, accounting for 10% of all attacksNews NTT researchers warn that the RaaS group is leveraging SystemBC malware to establish covert tunnelling, evade detection, and support rapid lateral movement across enterprise environments
-
Instructure chose to a pay ransom following the Canvas cyber attack – research shows more than half of security leaders would follow suitAnalysis Opting to pay ransoms creates huge risks for enterprises – you’re relying on the word of criminals
-
Ransomware negotiator sentenced for role in major cyber crime groupNews Deniss Zolotarjovs was a key player in a group associated with Conti
-
Threat actors ditch ‘spray and pray’ attacks in shift to targeted exploitationNews A dip in ransomware volumes points to a more targeted approach focused on vulnerability exploitation
-
Security leaders overconfident about ransomware recovery
News Few manage to recover all their data, and many experience business disruption
-
German authorities want your help finding the hackers behind GandCrab and REvilNews Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk are believed to have made millions from ransomware as a service schemes
-
The rise of teen hackers ‘makes for a good headline’, but cyber crime activities peak later in life
News With family responsibilities and mortgages to pay, it's not teenagers dishing out malware or carrying out cyber extortion
