The Internet of (Insecure) Things

I know what you did, and where you are

IoT - the Internet of Things! 

Everything is connected to the internet! Refrigerators talking to toasters! Washing machines talking to garage door openers!

And were these Things tested well? (Probably not) Can they be hacked? (Almost certainly)

This one in particular caught my eye - GPS watches. @copyrightjoestrazzere

How GPS Watches Can Put Kids In Harm's Way

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gps-watches-for-kids-are-easily-hacked/

Personally, I don't understand the appeal of the devices in the first place. I get that some folks are helicopter parents, but I don't understand the need to know exactly where your children are every second of the day.

Putting that aside, you must assume that if you can track a device, others can as well. And a device advertised for tracking children is simply a disaster waiting to happen, in my opinion. 

Be careful here, folks. I'm not suggesting you should walk around with a tinfoil hat. The Internet of Things has a ton of potential. But every day we hear about more and more devices with stupid default passwords, or that are trivial to hack. Think it through - if your device were hacked, what could the worst outcome be? Sometimes it's a lot worse than having the freezer tell the clock radio about that cheesecake you ate whole last night.

Stay safe out there.

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This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

	My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm an experienced Quality Assurance professional. I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing. Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.