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The Latest Security Vulnerability: Your Toilet
NobleSavage writes "We all knew it was just a matter of time. With the rush to put more and more appliances on-line Japanese toilet-maker Satis, one of Japan's largest commode companies, has finally networked the toilet. Just as you would have predicted, the information security company Trustwave Holdings has published an advisory regarding Satis-brand toilets. According to Trustwave, every Satis toilet has the same hard-coded Bluetooth PIN, which means any person using the 'My Satis' [Android] application can control any Satis toilet."
If people can get their heads out of the gutter for a moment, this is really the kind of news that has a higher impact than believed. One could rack up quite a water bill for a unliked neighbor, and kids will have no end to the fun of flushing other's toliets, again leading to fresh water waste. There isn't as much fresh water as people would like to have, and on an island like Japan, I'd imagine that such waste would be felt quite dearly.
people here are very resource-concious after the quake and tsunami. we also have toilets with built-in bidet that have many settings (water temperature, spray strength, pattern, location, toilet seat temperature, etc). my toilet has a small control panel on the wall, most have them built into the seat (captain picard's captain seat, style). this is likely to program the toilet, but i would imagine it also offers water use stats. i heard that it is approximately 100 yen per flush for most people, but of course that depends on your utility, toilet, regular or big flush, and other factors. i can configure my toilet easily enough, but tracking my flushes (and friends', girlfriend's) would be a pain.
for the record, i and others track our energy/water/gas usage to better understand our habits and be more resource-efficient (though for me, really just to save money).