While the incorporation of internet in household appliances like fridges make it easier to access internet and take immediate services, the negligence of malware protection creates a myriad of significant cyber problems.
Recently, a company called Proof Point has revealed a cyber attack, namely botnet attack, in which the attacker hijacks the Internet Incorporated Household appliances and use them to send spam emails and viruses. From December 23 till January 6, around 100,000 such appliances including televisions, refrigerators, and routers have been used for cyber attacks.
The attack is so severe and well-programmed that it sends around 750K spam emails (set of 100K each) at a time from different IP addresses for almost 3 times per day. This was the first reported cyber attack by household appliances, however, one can not say that it must be the first of this kind.
Another important thing found by Proof Point was the lack of security. Almost all the equipment had default passwords and some had substantial misconfiguration, which makes the equipments open to public network and vulnerable to cyber attacks. It is recommended to all smart appliances owners to change their devices passwords from their default settings to something new.
David Knight, of Proof Point, gave his concerns regarding botnets: "Botnet attacks are already very crucial security concerns and the situation can even get worse with the appearance of thingbots".
By 2020, over 200M devices are expected to be internet connected, which would make it even easier for cyber attacks to occur, if proper malware detection is not made mandatory.
