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posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 25 2019, @10:48AM   Printer-friendly

Smart bulbs are expected to be a popular purchase this holiday season. But could lighting your home open up your personal information to hackers?

Earlier this year Amazon's Echo made global headlines when it was reported that consumers' conversations were recorded and heard by thousands of employees.

Now researchers at UTSA have conducted a review of the security holes that exist in popular smart-light brands. According to the analysis, the next prime target could be that smart bulb that shoppers buy this coming holiday season.

"Your smart bulb could come equipped with infrared capabilities, and most users don't know that the invisible wave spectrum can be controlled. You can misuse those lights," said Murtuza Jadliwala, professor and director of the Security, Privacy, Trust and Ethics in Computing Research Lab in UTSA's Department of Computer Science. "Any data can be stolen: texts or images. Anything that is stored in a computer."

Anindya Maiti, Murtuza Jadliwala. Light Ears: Information Leakage via Smart Lights[$]. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, 2019; 3 (3): 1 DOI: 10.1145/3351256


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  • (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Friday October 25 2019, @01:19PM (1 child)

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Friday October 25 2019, @01:19PM (#911624) Journal

    Yeah, right, hobbyist with deep pockets...

    Hobbyists with deep pockets buy industrial grade electronics for (home) automation, not consumer grade. Yes, it is fun to build something practical from toy grade electronics too, but often at the cost of inferior electrical properties and unpredictable reliability. Would you rely on your cheap constructions with your life?

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday October 25 2019, @05:08PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 25 2019, @05:08PM (#911728) Journal

    Sparkfun and Adafruit are as reliable as the Aliexpress stuff. Only 3-5 times as expensive.

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