Santa’s Little Hacker: How Cybercriminals Can Hassle our Holiday Happiness

Once again, it’s that special time of year where we hang decorations, sip eggnog, and exchange gifts near the warmth of the fireplace. Lately, however, a new and slightly less wonderful tradition has wormed its way into the holiday season: cyberattacks perpetrated by criminals looking to play the role of Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, replete with the desire to jeopardize our joy.

With so many of us working remotely, gifts to enhance our home offices would be welcomed with open arms. However, behind even the most benign of home office gadgets lurks the cyber equivalent of a stocking full of coal. Before you give that special someone a seemingly perfect present, learn about a few ways that hackers can neutralize our noel.

• Hackers can make your surveillance videos go viral (without you even knowing…)
  
  • The thought of using a surveillance camera to monitor a pet or loved one from your phone without having to leave your desk sounds like a great way to add efficiency to a daily routine. However, by using compromised administrator credentials for one camera company, hackers gained the ability to view feeds from more than 149,000 users earlier this year. Compounding security concerns are the rampant reports of unauthorized employees improperly accessing customer footage.
    
    
• Hackers can make you kick your caffeine habit…
  
  • A senior researcher from a prominent security vendor hacked a smart coffee machine so that it brewed nothing but trouble. Realizing that the firmware in the device was unencrypted, he reverse-engineered the device so that it demanded a ransom before making a single cup of coffee. To make matters worse, the hack activated and continuously ran the exceptionally loud coffee grinder mechanism until payment was made.
    
    
• Hackers can make you wish your voice-activated smart speaker was an 8-track player…
  
  • Researchers were able to use inexpensive laser pointers to hack many popular smart speakers via remotely sent commands. Examples of commands that could be sent included opening smart locks and garage doors among other security-compromising tasks. The completely silent attacks were carried out from over 300 feet away, transforming any speaker placed near a window into a security vulnerability.
    
    
• Hackers can turn printers into the hottest gift of the season (literally!)
  
  • The security experts at a notable cybersecurity firm demonstrated how a printer could be remotely compromised, allowing it to burst into flames. After they gained access to the same Wi-Fi network as the printer, the experts showed how a hacker could tamper with the device’s firmware and disable its temperature constraints. Without this control in place, the printer could overheat to the point of catching fire.

To help avoid turning your home office into a cyber catastrophe this holiday season, be sure to update any and all electronic devices on a regular basis so that they have the latest security patches. From there, maintain a strong wireless network, complete with long, complex, and periodically changed passwords. Making the extra effort when it comes to cybersecurity will undoubtedly be the gift that keeps on giving.

For more information or to set up a meeting to discuss how Citrin Cooperman can help protect your business, please reach out to Kevin Ricci at kricci@citrincooperman.com or Michael Camacho at mcamacho@citrincooperman.com.