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Hacking Lightbulbs To Cause a Sustained Blackout

Posted by timothy on from the dark-as-a-particle-or-as-a-wave dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researcher Nitesh Dhanjani just published an evaluation of the Philips Hue wireless lighting system that is available at Apple stores (and online). These lightbulbs come with a wireless bridge that you can control from your iPhone. Dhanjani has published a video demonstrating a vulnerability he found that can be exploited by malware to cause a sustained blackout. The video shows how the malware script can continuously turn the light bulbs off. Dhanjani also discusses other scenarios such as the systems' tie in with IFTTT (If This Then That) to cause a blackout by tagging a Facebook user on a completely black photo. Lots of interesting ideas on security vulnerabilities targeting future malware and smart devices. The paper can be downloaded here (PDF)."

5 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Question by djupedal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why do I feel like I'm standing in line at the supermarket reading the cover of some tabloid rag right now...

    1. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why do I feel like I'm standing in line at the supermarket reading the cover of some tabloid rag right now...

      Hard to say.

      Perhaps it's because you didn't recognize the extremely important but implicit message that unless we (the engineers) pay more attention to what we're doing, then our products can be susceptible to widespread mayhem.

      It's a pretty relevant topic as everything around us becomes more and more networked.

    2. Re:Question by Princeofcups · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why do I feel like I'm standing in line at the supermarket reading the cover of some tabloid rag right now...

      Maybe it's time add a third level of moderation to slashdot. Have at least 5 high karma readers edit all article posts before they go up.
      - Spelling/grammar corrections
      - Weasel word removal
      - Check/supply links
      - Accurate titles/summaries

      God knows the current batch of mods aren't doing their job.

      --
      The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
  2. SUSTAINED BLACKOUT!!! OH NOES!!!! by Score+Whore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Turning off a single or set of light bulbs is not a "sustained blackout." Shutdown all electrical systems in a city (or at least a neighborhood) and maybe you can start talking blackout. But turning off a couple of light bulbs isn't even inconvenient. What kind of hyperbolic dipshittery headline writing is this?

  3. Hysteria Much? by s122604 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The hack described in the article is interesting from a technical perspective, but the use of the term "blackout" is hysterical and misleading.

    When I think of the term "blackout", I take that to mean no more 120/240 in any of my sockets.

    Yes, appliance hacks are something that we all should think about as more and more of the ubiquitous appliances, like lights, HVAC, water and sewer, that truly make the modern world function come online, but cmon....