The Internet of Things (IoT) is the term that is used in most cases to define the smart devices that we have at home and that connect to the Internet. Due to their growing popularity, technology companies are increasingly focused on creating an ecosystem of products that can be linked and controlled directly from a smartphone. However, these devices can see their name changed from the Internet of Things to the Internet of problems. At least, that’s what an investigator believes.
Smart devices you have at home may stop working!
A security researcher and consultant, Scott Helme, has raised alarms about an issue that could affect a number of devices starting next year. He revealed to The Register that many smart devices we have at home are going to start failing in the next 12 months. We are talking specifically about Smart TVs, television boxes, refrigerators, and even old Android smartphones, which could lose most Internet connections in the next two years.
The reason for the possible failures is that security certificates built into many devices are starting to expire. These certificates make it possible for digital devices to establish secure online connections with servers. Today, with the adoption of secure connections for almost everything, the scale of potentially affected devices is really huge.
The good thing is that these certificates can be renewed with firmware updates. Unfortunately, not all of these gadgets have ways to receive the software update after installation. In addition, not all gadgets have a complementary application or administrator interface. However, most Chinese manufacturers do not guarantee any support for their gadgets. Therefore, it may be that many gadgets will stop working.
The security investigator also revealed that several certificates will expire in the coming years. They normally have a license duration of more than 20 years. Now many of the devices that are on the market always continue to run the same certificates. This means that at some point they will have to be renewed.
This researcher says that people should check the expiration date of the certificates of the devices they are buying. Even those who do not connect to the Internet. Of course, this is complicated and eventually, it will only be possible with many searches on Google.
