Greg's Corner

Hackers Hijack Heater and Hold it Hostage

Have you thought about purchasing a smart thermostat that you can control from your smart phone or do you already have one? You may want to rethink that purchase after what a couple of security experts were able to do to one recently. At the security conference known as DefCon two security experts were able to remotely hijack one of these smart thermostats and crank the temperature up to 99F. In theory a malicious actor could hold your thermostat hostage until you pay them money to have them release control, much like any other ransomware that could infect your computer.

This is the second bit of bad news for the smart thermostat market in so many months.This past winter, the leading brand of smart thermostats failed after a buggy firmware update left many houses dangerously cold.

Your best bet in either of these situations is to just get an old school thermostat from your local hardware store that you should be able to hook up in minutes. Sometimes the most secure solutions are the most simple ones.