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…appliances sending spam!
http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/appliance … -spam.html
Many a repairer struggles to use a PC, how on Earth are they going to cope with this?
K.
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I love the comment “100,000 everyday consumer gadgets and ONE refrigerator” …….. :rolls:
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Ah, you forget Martin that this is a hobby for me, I like my automation stuff.
It’s fine, so long as you know what you’re doing or, you get someone to do it for you that does. Not so good if you don’t.
Any device that has any sort of email server or web browser built into it has the ability to be hacked, I don’t care what anyone says, unless it’s 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} locked down in hardware/firmware, it can be what they call pwned. In short, someone else takes control of the device for normally nefarious purposes.
Taking control of devices that are not connected is nigh on impossible at best, extremely improbable. Whether anyone would bother to put the effort in for what could potentially be gained is debatable even if it were possible.
Which is why most HA systems use different protocols such as X10 (power line), Z Wave, Insteon, C Bus and so on wirelessly where needed and hard wired as well. The danger in them is hooking up the whole lot to the interweb and naively thinking that you’re safe.
That said, most are as safe as can be because, there’s not really all that much the dirty hackers can do if they break in. So they don’t bother.
What is interesting is all these big corporations in the appliance industry moving into HA territory, I can see the sense (to a degree) with Apple, Google, Samsung and LG given their areas of interest but I can’t really see the point for anyone else. And, even with all of that, they still can’t prove any requirement for it IMO.
The danger here is that, if you have a connected device that is being used like this, you can get real issues with email and your ISP or even your IP blocked for spamming. That’s not good.
But then there’s the question of who calls to fix it?
Can anyone?
Is it the LG/Samsung fridge that’s the problem or, is it the kids laptop that’s been infected with something?
Has any appliance engineer in the normal course of things ever had a modicum of training on networking and IT support?
K.
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kwatt wrote:Has any appliance engineer in the normal course of things ever had a modicum of training on networking and IT support?
Such a skillset would not be required as the appliance engineer will just throw new parts at it until it works again. Having said that he may have to have extra training to know which Ethernet connector lead to unplug from the hub to ensure the appliance is fully isolated. 😉
My mate Lee8 I’m sure will be well up to speed on this stuff, oh yes!
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Haven’t done the training yet.
But my qualifications should put me in the running of those able to cope.:P
Modern changing world.
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kwatt wrote:
Has any appliance engineer in the normal course of things ever had a modicum of training on networking and IT support?
K.
Yes, and yes. 🙂
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Some brands develop 5-10 yrs ahead. Which would normally bring me on to training and qualifications, but l won’t as it should be obvious to most that the days of replacing sprogs and greasing widgets are dying out and with it the need to have a different skill set.
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lee8 wrote:Some brands develop 5-10 yrs ahead.
Visions of a group of nerds throwing paper planes across their desks whilst waiting word from their boss on their idea of a washing machine powered by Kryptonite. 👿
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No. now Electromechanics are trying to fig out how the next generation of microgrids can be fitted into your airing cupboard without causing your missus hair to stand on end.
http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~jef/papers/CH … -final.pdf
http://www.orchid.ac.uk/smart-grid-2/
http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/06/14/t … -lab-2010/
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This all seems to be reminiscent of those concept cars that you used to see at the motor show. Loads of people thinking wow but they were just there to advertise the brand, they were never made but looked good.To be much more succinct a lot of this sort of thing is just designer’s crap – all done on a computer and it seems to occur everywhere these days. With my other hat on-I tile bathrooms and I come across designer bathroom furniture – square toilets(the water doesnt go round the corners so not to the front) baths with the taps on the side,great until you bark your shins on them when you stand up.But they look good in the catalogue.The point is the designer makes the picture then they make the product there is no testing-the customer does that.It used to proceed roughly :Invention-developement and testing-product.Somehow designers have become more important than the inventors and engineers.
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