Call it the attack of the zombie refrigerators.
Computer security researchers said this week they discovered a large “botnet” which infected Internet-connected home appliances and then delivered more than 750,000 malicious emails.
The California security firm Proofpoint, Inc., said hackers managed to penetrate home-networking routers, connected multi-media centers, televisions and at least one refrigerator to create a botnet or platform to deliver malicious spam or phishing emails from a device, usually without the owner’s knowledge.
Proofpoint said the case “has significant security implications for device owners and enterprise targets” because of massive growth expected in the use of smart and connected devices, from clothing to appliances.
“Proofpoint’s findings reveal that cyber criminals have begun to commandeer home routers, smart appliances and other components of the Internet of Things and transform them into ‘thingbots,'” to carry out the same kinds of attacks normally associated with personal computers.
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