North America’s FBI on its Tech Tuesday publication, has recommended every citizen to secure their Smart TVs and IoT devices to the latest updates and stay safe.
Gone are those days where a thief needed a key (or like gadget) to sneak into your home for stealing something. These digital days let hackers sneak into your home just by any vulnerable device. So it’s strongly recommended to keep things secure to sway away such attackers.
Understanding Links And Risks
Have you ever thought about how smart things in your homework?
Digital assistants, smartwatches, fitness trackers, home security devices, thermostats, refrigerators, and even light bulbs. Add to that all of the fun stuff: remote-controlled robots; games and gaming systems; interactive dolls; and talking stuffed animals etc are the things described by FBI which can be vulnerable enough to let hacker gain advantage.
Many of us are lazy enough to pick up the remote and use voice assistants to do things for us. This applies to most of the smart gadgets in our home. What really damning here is, all of them are working with your voice via a microphone!
This small thing will always be live for taking commands. Further, cameras set inside gadgets like Smart TVs are away too. Well, this can be useful for video calling and recognizing viewer (so as to suggest programs accordingly), but this is bad enough for users. Guess what happens if it’s hacked?
Boom! You’re letting the attacker gain access into your systems which are connected to an internet router. Where the same router is used by PCs and smartphones. When all these are on the same network, it’s easy for a hacker to surf through all devices by gaining access to just one of them. The cyberstalked data can be publicized, if not, trade with someone for money or in the worst case, ask you for ransom.
Things To Note
As warned by FBI, everyone should be following basic norms to keep themselves safe. Here’s what you can do;
- Regularly updating the firmware of devices
- Setting up strong passwords
- Turning off the microphone
- Covering the gadget cameras if not needed
- Making sure you act sensibly on giving control access to apps
- Reading service’s privacy policies
- Make sure your smartphones and PCs are on a different network than on your network of smart gadgets.
Source: FBI
