Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 25 2016, @12:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the rein-in-the-bots dept.

Home webcams that were hijacked to help knock popular websites offline last week are being recalled in the US.

Chinese electronics firm Hangzhou Xiongmai issued the recall soon after its cameras were identified as aiding the massive web attacks.

They made access to popular websites, such as Reddit, Twitter, Spotify and many other sites, intermittent.

Security experts said easy-to-guess default passwords, used on Xiongmai webcams, aided the hijacking.

The web attack enrolled thousands of devices that make up the internet of things - smart devices used to oversee homes and which can be controlled remotely.

Will we go through this over and over with toasters, refrigerators, and every other connected appliance?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 25 2016, @03:23PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday October 25 2016, @03:23PM (#418575)

    What is the world coming to when manufacturers start taking responsibility for the security of their products?

    They aren't taking responsibility for the security of their products, they're blunting the bad PR for the lax security of their products. And then they'll get right back to swearing up and down how secure all their stuff is.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday October 26 2016, @07:11AM

    by tftp (806) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @07:11AM (#418885) Homepage

    They aren't taking responsibility for the security of their products

    It is much cheaper to change the name and the logo of the company - from one generic Chinese combination of words to another. It's amazing how many products from China come from no-name, fly-by-night manufacturers. But they are cheap! And that's why they are selling so well.

    What does it cost to change the name and the logo? Perhaps, nothing at all, besides a small fee to the artist. Layers upon layers of companies may produce and sell and resell products, and we see the logo only of the last reseller. Those are dime a dozen. As they keep their network of contacts, they can change the company every few months if they have to. In practice, it takes much longer to develop a full-blown PR disaster. They probably have a dozen new companies in the filing cabinet, ready to go on a minute's notice.

    Not all Chinese companies are fly-by-night, but many are. It just makes sense. The US market, hungry for cheap glitter, will swallow whatever you throw at it, as long as it is cheap. A new fool is born every millisecond.