The Internet of things (IoT) has already been used to launch the biggest DDoS attacks ever, but now it represents a potential path for attackers to compromise cell phones.
Flaws in Belkin WeMo devices - electrical switches, cameras, light bulbs, coffee makers, air purifiers, etc. – enabled Invincea Labs researchers to not only hack into the devices, but to use that access to attack an Android phone running the app that controls the WeMo devices.
"This is the first instance we've seen of IoT hacking something else," says researcher Scott Tenaglia, who pledges to look for other vulnerable devices that might be abused to carry out similar attacks.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Thursday November 03 2016, @06:23PM
Because the iot devices can't actually fight back.
Never mind that 99.999 percent of all such "Belkin WeMo devices - electrical switches, cameras, light bulbs, coffee makers, air purifiers" are behind firewall routers and thus could not be compromised other than in some researcher's lab.
Lets blame things that could not possibly be the source of these attacks because there is no one there to fight back.
Lets not talk about comcast and at@&t and versizon cox and centurylink home routers are the cheapest and weakest and deployed with factory passwords, and have direct access to large amounts of bandwidth. Shhhh. That would attract lawyers.
No lets blame the light bulb.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.