With the recent revelations regarding the major vulnerability found in WiFi encryption, the tech industry is currently scrambling to find a solution. Regarding the scope of the attack, nearly every device that has an internet connection is affected. This leaves billions of people across the planet vulnerable to having their information and devices compromised.
Of all the advice that has been given to consumers to protect themselves from this vulnerability, the most important by far is for them to patch their devices. However, this is where the major issues arise. If companies do not provide patches for their devices, customers are out of luck. According to HD Moore, a researcher at Atredis Partners, we will be seeing the effects of this in vulnerable devices 20 years from now.
He believes this because many devices other than laptops and cellphones do not regularly receive software/firmware updates, and therefore, they may never get an adequate update to protect against this hack. Many of these devices are typically household items that people do not even realize are connected to the internet. Some examples include refrigerators, garage doors, toys, windows, and sprinkler systems. With this being said, it is in customer's best interests to simply buy new devices if they do not see that their is an update available. Other than that, there is no way to completely protect themselves from this vulnerability.
What devices do you own that may be vulnerable? Do you think you are going to look into purchasing new devices or check online for updates?
@Alan I really enjoyed your post. I did not even realize about this issue until I read your post. Some devices that I own that may be vulnerable are my TV and refrigerator. I personally do not have any personal information stored on these items so I do not think that I need to go buy new ones.Although, it is important for me to keep a mental note to myself about any future devices that I may purchase. Thank you for your post and I think we should spread the awareness.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I don't own a smart fridge or a car made in this decade so I have a small amount of devices that are connected to the internet. Just my phone, laptop and printer. I wanted to ask if you have heard of LiFi? It's light emitting diodes that are used as visible light transmitters that replace WiFi. It is looking like the next generation of Wifi. Since the connection is based off light, only direct detection must be used. This means that malicious activity cannot piggyback or tailgate on a network without direct line-of-sight. Wifi can travel through walls, which is nice for connection, but bad news for security functions. LiFi is also faster and relatively cheap to implement.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lifi.eng.ed.ac.uk/ Here is an interesting paper on some of the basics of LiFi that I think you might find interesting
This was also just posted. It affects WiFi's too. See Mitch's comment before this. LiFi has also been around for a while.... doesn't seem to be taking off as many thought it would, at least in the U.S.
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