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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: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday December 15 2017, @10:08PM
Yes, and I'd like to add to it... if you sold to me a device, it is supposed to work without giving me any harm and without any updates from you. If you need to update my device to prevent a harm, you'd better return my money and then some multiple of it.
You have no rights to change the look and feel of my device either. It is mine and the interface is supposed to stay without changes forever and do correctly all the functionality that existed at the time of the sale. I have no time to learn whatever idiot updates your so called engineers decided to push out this week. I have other more interesting things to do.
Finally, the most important. If computing is not the primary function of the device (such as for a car) it should work with computer removed. Why? Because the morons who design our cars got into a habit of fixing pure mechanical issues (say engine vibration) through a software updates (say by prohibiting certain RPMs). This makes engines bad because without computers they would have to actually fix the underlying problem instead of hiding it. Just wait till airplanes start falling off the skies because of a chip reboot. (Our computer got a cosmic ray hit, sorry have a wonderful crash)
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.