The Internet of Things have made our lives much more convenient. We can control so many things with the touch of a button on a phone. Security systems can be monitored from hundreds of miles away, our fridges can be now used for online dating, garage doors can be opened, we can feed our pets from across the globe or we can just control our outdoor lighting systems with the touch of a button.
Your Online But Your Not Done
In order for the Internet of Things to work it requires technology that must be connected to the Internet. That is not a problem, nowadays these products are designed to do just that. Each of these are equipped with the hardware to connect to the Internet and they (for the most part) have been designed to allow a user to do so quickly and easily. But once something is connected that is not the end of the story.
A Default Username and Password is Just That
Each of these devices has a default username and password that has been set up with it. This allows for easy initial access for the user to make setup easier. The use of default passwords is not a new concept, they have been used with devices that have connected to the Internet for well over a decade. Devices like wireless routers that you very well might have in your home.
Having a default password with the device is not a problem since the device is not connected to the Internet until it is installed in the home. Once it is installed it is an issue. The default username and password are known by everyone and if it is not known it can be found very easily on the Internet.
Easy Targets For Cyber Criminals
By knowing that default information an attacker can do a lot of different things. They can spy on you. They can use it to steal from you. They can use it to compromise your security or they can use it to use your device to attack others.
It is possible for an attacker to take control of your device as well as potentially hundreds or thousands or millions of others just like it and target a website. These botnet attacks can make websites slow to respond or they can take down the website by flooding it with traffic. A few years ago one of these attacks used unsecured outdoor cameras to take down a telecom company in Liberia and wound up taking the entire country offline. The attacker was able to commandeer thousands of cameras and use them to attack the site with so much traffic that the country’s Internet backbone could not handle it.
Set New Usernames and Passwords
There is a very easy way to avoid this: Change the default username and password. It is very easy to do and it can eliminate most security threats to your devices. Instructions are included with the information and Resort Lighting will be more than happy to assist you. You installed your lighting system at least in part with your security in mind so keep it completely secured by securing your devices. Just don’t forget to write your new username and password down so you won’t forget it!
