Security hole found in Samsung smart fridges

Some testing recently conducted by Pen Test Partners revealed a man-in-the-middle vulnerability in Samsung smart fridges that could be used to hack into a user’s Gmail account. The Samsung refrigerator that was tested has Wi-Fi capability that among other things, allows a user to display their Gmail calendar on the screen. The Pen Test Partners’ testing showed that although Samsung implemented a Secure Sockets Layer for connections, the fridge was not validating certificates leaving it vulnerable to attack.

In order to take advantage of the security, the attacker would have to be connected to the same network that the fridge is connected to, so a secure network and careful vetting of who you let “visit” on your network can help reduce exposure.

While accessing a Gmail account may not seem like an interesting target for hackers, many expect Internet connected devices to eventually include payment capabilities making them more enticing targets. Jonathan Vaux with Vix notes, “your fridge will have a payment capability. People are immediately associating [Samsung Pay] with the phone, but they’re the biggest provider of white goods and so I will have a fridge, I’m sure, that will have connected payments in it.”

Pen Test Partners has been testing a variety of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and previously discovered Samsung was sending unencrypted voice recordings from their Smart TVs over the Internet.

source: Tech Insider

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