Millions Of Printers Open To Devastating Hack Attack

[BB1950]

It's not only possible, but likely, say researchers at Columbia University, who claim they've discovered a new class of computer security flaws that could impact millions of businesses, consumers, and even government agencies.

Check this out:

http://redtape.msnbc...researchers-say

[astral]

Oh great.

Tell the hackers how to do it...............

I hope my router firewall offers some protection?

[rakman]

Oh great.

Tell the hackers how to do it...............

I hope my router firewall offers some protection?

Anyone dumb enough, without having proper security, to put ANY device freely accessible to the internet is crazy.

I wouldn't even activate a wifi enabled printer unless I could lock down the MAC access.

I'm not surprised.

There is an effort to make US home electrical meters on the internet, so that it's "easier" to see how much power is being used. Not me. I'll fight it as long as I can, as I don't want some hacker turning off my power.

[impulse]

Anyone dumb enough, without having proper security, to put ANY device freely accessible to the internet is crazy.

I wouldn't even activate a wifi enabled printer unless I could lock down the MAC access.

I'm not surprised.

According to the article, even a printer connected to a computer via a USB cable could be vulnerable.

My first thought was the ability to go into the hard drive on our company's printer(s) and download every print job and fax in its memory, then program it to transmit every print and fax job that goes to the printer.

Kind of makes the old concept of human spies look "quaint", doesn't it? Scary stuff...

Then the HP rebuttal basically says, "yes, there is a vulnerability but nobody can prove it's ever been exploited so sleep soundly in your beds..."

[Heimdallr]

These kind of exploits aren't exactly new and to be honest not the worst kind of damage a knowledgeable person can do. HP can probably overcome this problem before someone releases nasties exploiting this on a mass scale.

[phaethon]

I always wear a condom when I'm printing...

[justsumhelp]

just follow http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/ and you will be less afraid of running out of ink