UNDERLINES hacking CAR HAZARD OBJECTS CONNECTED TO INTERNET

A glitch that allowed hackers to control a moving Jeep Cherokee is just a glimpse of the dangers that lie ahead objects connected to the Internet.

The ability to access data or take control of former 'fools' artifacts, now become 'intelligent' through internet connections, it was one of the central themes at the start of the Black Hat cybersecurity conference held Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Researchers described how they took control remotely from a moving car or sniper rifles. Several warned at the meeting that the ramifications and consequences of this could be very large and serious.

For starters, many companies do not even have computers that control their intelligent appliances are safe. "Almost none of the manufacturers of devices connected to the Internet has real safety equipment", he told AFP the founder of Black Hat, Jeff Moss Hat.

Moss believes the problem will grow as hackers more experts looking to expand their scope. "The Jeep hacking is just the beginning," he said. "Criminals are geniuses when it comes to figuring out how to misuse these things," he said.

Fiat Chrysler decided to recall 1.4 million vehicles in the United States after two researchers demonstrated that they could remotely control the vehicle.

From home, with laptops, cybersecurity experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek managed to impose on the driver, a journalist from Wired magazine, it did not control maneuvers. Their goal: to demonstrate the vulnerability of electronic systems of vehicles. Experts said it was a relatively simple job.

"We can be good at what we do, but this was a weekend project," Miller said. "What would happen if we did this full or if we pay for that? Time," he said.

Miller, a security researcher Twitter, and Chris Valasek, who works for the company IOActive cybersecurity, say they have investigated problems connected cars because the dangers are obvious. "Car manufacturers spend millions of dollars on security and now this is part of security, like it or not," Valasek said.

- Entrance door -

Jeff Moss imagines a scenario in which a connected domestic appliance, a toaster, for example, is hacked and becomes a gateway to a computer attack that extends wirelessly to other devices such as entertainment systems. A hacker could then jump to the neighbor's house through wireless internet to take control to turn their household appliances.

The possibilities for hackers are multiple ... and chilling.

Intelligent information appliances can be used to learn about the lifestyle and daily routines of people. They could even activate some artifacts cameras to spy intimate moments that victims would prefer to keep private.

At about the fact that smart appliances such as ovens or washing machines are designed to last but not usually receive software updates adds. Thus it is only a matter of time before hackers find system vulnerabilities.

"We are running into a future in which everything is connected, nothing is upgradeable and will last 10 years," said Moss. "Then it's a matter of numbers. A million of anything is a problem, one hundred million is a disaster."

What especially worries Moss is the ability to hack electric meters connected to the Internet. Hackers could well aim not only to homes but cause problems in electricity networks of neighborhoods or even cities.

The Internet of Things could also generate responsibilities that have so far not achieved software manufacturers, as Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director of the Center for Internet and Society at the law school of the University of Stanford.

Most people do not think to sue a manufacturer of software when a computer fails, but it probably will not happen if a car crashes, Granick said. "The responsibility of software developers is inevitable and necessary," he said.