1

My issue isn't so common and I can't find an answer in the see of other IoT security issues. Let's say I have an IP cam, but I'm not even worried about someone being able to view the live stream, or the live stream being 'stolen' and used in whatever way. I guess I'm only left with the question of: What are the risks of giving an IoT device my wifi password and connecting it to the wifi? I haven't found a clear answer. Thanks

1
  • The same risk as giving an attacker access to your network, if the device can be compromised. Feb 21, 2019 at 1:55

1 Answer 1

3

This is a broad question and will take a broad answer.

Brutally, what is an IoT device? It has (at least) a processor, a firmware and a nic.

All of that together can be compared, more or less, to a computer; usually with *nix software onboard.

From here, you can go for whatever you like, but to better understand the risks, you have to ask yourself, "What can a computer do when it is connected to my network?"

Let's pretend that your IP cam has a second wireless card that can be set in monitor mode. It can be used to sniff all the traffic, because it already has your AP password.

You can't find a clear answer because theoretically there is not limit.

Being paranoid, not only you have to be worried about your live stream being exposed, but you also have to be worried about every piece of information in the other devices connected on the same network.

A simple misconfiguration of whatever device can be dangerous (E.G. ssh without password or a weak one, not patched machines, etc.)

Obviously, there are a lot of things that are very unlikely to happen, but backdoor'd software isn't that hard to find, specially in closed-source software.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .