[ih] Your refrigerator probably hasn't joined a botnet

[Miles Fidelman]

Jack Haverty wrote:
> How do I *know* that my appliance is not a part of a botnet today?   
> My home LAN has a bunch of devices on it, and many, maybe all, of them 
> communicate with whatever is at a lot of other IP addresses.   Some of 
> these I recognize, like NTP servers.  Others are mysterious, but 
> probably part of some mechanism for software updates, or advertising, 
> or spying, or ???   I can't recall a single product manual that 
> specifies what the product will do with the Internet.  So how can I 
> tell it's doing what the manufacturer intended?  Or communicating with 
> its master in a botnet, perhaps just keeping in touch stealthily at 
> odd hours and even waiting for lots of other traffic to hide itself in.
>
> I agree that my appliances are probably not part of a botnet today - 
> but only because I'm optimistic and it's probably too early in the 
> technology timeline.   I don't know that it's true.
>
> Technology like Raspberry Pi and CuBox now puts serious computer power 
> in a cheap 2x2x2-inch cube, all network-capable and even with WiFi, 
> and easily programmable by anyone. Fertile ground for botnets....
>

Kind of suggests a nice business opportunity for a residential internet 
security appliance.  Hmmm.....

Miles Fidelman

-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.   .... Yogi Berra