Security expert Matthew Garrett was recently found in a hotel where almost everything operated from an Android tablet. 
Matthew Garrett, known in the Linux community and a security specialist working at CoreOS, was found in a London hotel where the light switches had recently been replaced by Android tablets.
Garrett, a born hacker, decided to investigate the issue. A few hours later he managed to gain access to the electricity of each room.
Even though Garrett is a security expert, what he achieved does not require elite hacking skills. Garrett explained to ZDNet that he simply disconnected the tablet and connected his laptop to the same network. He then created a transparent bridge (transparent bridge).
This is commonplace for any Linux network administrator. He then used a popular application that analyzes network protocols (Wireshark) to analyze the traffic.
He quickly realized that the devices were using the Modbus protocol. An ancient, serial protocol used for controlling logic controllers (PLC), also known as simple electronic devices.
“Modbus is a rather outdated protocol, and mainly it has absolutely no identity security”, observed Garrett. Θ
After using Tcpdump it revealed that the traffic was directed to IPv4 address 172.16.207.14. A little later, with pymodbus, Garrett could control the lights in his room, turn the TV on and off but also the curtains.
Then he noticed that his room number was 714 and his IP address ended in 7.104. Possibly that was what crossed his mind…
And yes, actually, he had found how to get into every dNai! Yes, it was a room.
He certainly resisted the temptation to turn on the lights, the televisions, and the curtains of his neighbors.
Yes, Garrett is a security professional, but the skills we mentioned above could also be possessed by a script kiddie.
However, you understand that although the above incident was entertaining, it could have had very bad outcomes if the hacker had malicious intentions.
But it is a reality that is coming. Although thousands of devices are being built for IoT, few care about security.
The Internet of Things is the future, it was even predicted by the first Star Trek, where computers were everywhere and could collaborate with humans via voice commands.
But the reality is not so fun.
US National Intelligence Agency (NSA) Director James Clapper recently warned that “Devices should be designed with at least minimum security requirements, as an ever-increasing complexity of networks could lead to widespread vulnerabilities of civilian infrastructure and US government systems.”
Minimal? That is, IoT devices without built-in security. If we do not demand that IoT devices have real security (not tomorrow, today) we will see a wave of criminality that we have never seen before.
