Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Nest Halts Sales of Smart Fire Alarm After Discovering Dangerous Flaw

Posted by Soulskill on from the out-of-the-frying-pan dept.

fructose writes: "The Nest Protect has a flaw in its software that, under the right circumstances, could disable the alarm and not notify the owners of a fire. To remedy this flaw, they are disabling the Nest Wave feature through automatic updates. Owners who don't have their Nest Protects connected to their WiFi net or don't have a Nest account are suggested to either update the device manually or return it to Nest for a full refund. While they work out the problem, all sales are being halted to prevent unsafe units from being sold. There have been no reported incidents resulting from this flaw, but they aren't taking any chances."

2 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. The internet of things...that might get you killed by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some things are important enough to

    a) keep simple, and
    b) keep offline

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  2. Re:Does everything need to be smart? by Animats · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think a fire alarm is an instance where I'd like something to have as simple and foolproof a mechanism as possible.

    Yes. That's why fire sprinklers are so successful. There's nothing between the water and the fire except a low-melting-point component in the sprinkler head.

    This is an example of webcrap-level programmers doing things they're not qualified to do. I'm beginning to think that "Internet of Things" programmers should be required to have Registered Professional Engineer credentials, like structural engineers.