My friend's smart fridge got his whole home network locked by ransomware

We were at his place in Austin watching a game when all the lights and his phone suddenly went dark. A message popped up on his TV demanding 0.5 Bitcoin to unlock everything. The entry point was his brand new internet-connected refrigerator, which he never changed the default password on. I had to help him factory reset his router and every single device. Who else has had a 'smart' appliance turn into a major security hole?

4 comments

4 Comments

charles_baker282mo ago

My buddy's smart toaster tried to join a botnet last Tuesday.

violag802mo ago

It's the creepiest thing, how normal stuff is getting hijacked. My neighbor's baby monitor started whispering ads for diapers last month. My own thermostat keeps trying to set itself to 78 degrees, like it's working for the power company. We're just letting all this random junk get online and it's backfiring in the weirdest ways.

xena58220d ago

Honestly, once you start looking at it like that, the whole thing gets less funny and more frustrating, right? Here's the deal: you can lock that stuff down pretty easily. First thing I did with every smart gadget in my house was change the default password to something long and random. Then I made sure my router had a separate guest network for all the dumb internet things like the thermostat and the baby monitor. That way even if the toaster does try to join a botnet, it can't touch my actual computers or phone. The ads are annoying but the real risk is these things being used to mess with your home. It is a pain to set up but it beats waking up to a 78 degree house or some weird ad playing at 2am.

pat_murray532mo agoMost Upvoted

Look, maybe I'm just not that worried. I mean, a toaster trying to join a botnet sounds like a bad joke more than a real threat. It's just a dumb appliance, it can't actually do much. Feels like people are getting worked up over stuff that's more silly than scary.