Smart home gadgets could give hackers access to bank accounts

They are urging manufacturers to introduce security ratings for wifi-enabled appliances such as televisions, cookers, kettles and fridges which are linked to home computers and mobile phones.

Chief Constable Mike Barton said: “People who use an app on their mobile phone or tablet to remotely turn on a television or cooker, or check a fridge contents when they’re out shopping, are running a huge risk because those appliances are linked to their whole home internet system, including perhaps their bank account, but are usually the weakest link in terms of their security.

“It’s like leaving a window open when you go on holiday and letting a burglar in to raid your home.

“Criminals aren’t hacking fridges at the moment, and it’s sounds preposterous but the potential is there. People want to know how secure their mobile phone is, but they tend not to worry about the security of their new smart kettle.

“Customers should be able to ask about security because they could risk losing their life savings.”

Mr Barton, who is the UK’s policing lead for crime operations, said manufacturers should give smart gadgets a security rating so customers can consider it along with quality, price and energy efficiency.

A report this year has already warned that smart gadgets such phones, watches and fitness trackers, even baby monitors and pacemakers, could be targeted by cyber criminals to hold users to ransom over their personal data.

It has been forecast that by 2020 there could be 21 billion connected devices used by consumers and businesses around the world.

Mr Barton, the Chief Constable of Durham, said that in last year’s British Crime Survey one-in-three people said they had been affected by online crime and were worried about their internet vulnerability.

He said: “Quite rightly, police are often accused of being slow to react to cyber crime. This time we are trying to be ahead of the curve, so that nobody can say we didn’t warn of the vulnerability.

When Sir Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829 the guiding principle was the prevention of crime, said Mr Barton. He was simply following that lead.

“Before there is a mushrooming of items in everyone’s homes all linked to the internet, let’s make sure that everything is safe so we can prevent crime.”

Mr Barton also called on internet companies to invest some of their “eye-watering” profits in stamping out online child abuse images.

He said police were using up hard-pressed resources arresting around 450 suspected paedophiles every month.

He said he could not understand why it appeared so difficult for service providers to rid their sites of such child images.

He called on companies to ban for life customers who use social media sits to abuse or harass others.

www.extremehacking.org

Sadik Shaikh | Cyber Suraksha Abhiyan, Ethical Hacking Training Institute, CEHv9,CHFI,ECSAv9,CAST,ENSA, CCNA, CCNA SECURITY,MCITP,RHCE,CHECKPOINT, ASA FIREWALL,VMWARE,CLOUD,ANDROID,IPHONE,NETWORKING HARDWARE,TRAINING INSTITUTE IN PUNE, Certified Ethical Hacking,Center For Advanced Security Training in India, ceh v9 course in Pune-India, ceh certification in pune-India, ceh v9 training in Pune-India, Ethical Hacking Course in Pune-India