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Internet of Things users need to become sysadmins, America's Federal Bureau of Investigation says.
That's a summary of the Feds' blog post, published this week, in which the agency's Beth Anne Steele wrote that Things are best deployed on their own network, with an off-switch.
Steele's post offered a checklist explaining how consumers can best secure their stuff, including a suggestion to: "Isolate 'IoT' devices on their own protected networks" – which means you'll want a firewall between your broadband modem and the switch that connects the devices.
The checklist might reach beyond the capabilities of the average IoT buyer, who just wants to swipe the phone app to control their lights (because the wall is so far away), but on its own, that's a point worth making. So here's the full list, with El Reg commentary.
"Change default usernames and passwords?" Brain shutting down. Too. Much. Techno-babble.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday December 15 2017, @06:30AM
They don't become experts on car insurance. They call the number on the commercial they like most and say what state they need to be insured in. Then the agent sets them up with the legally required insurance and upsells them on any extras that seem likely.
They may have no idea what the sales tax rate even is. They just fork over what the cashier says. The cashier may not know either, he/she just tells the customer whatever comes up on the register.
Most sole proprietors get an accountant to help them.
If we want to have less problems, we'll need less idIOT devices that insist on reaching outside of the local LAN.