Nyan Tun Zaw, Regional VP of Athena Dynamics, was interviewed by Channel 8 News on the vulnerability threats caused by everyday technology.

As common household technology, like CCTV, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and lights, etc., gets more connected with the rise of internet of things (IoT), we willingly expose ourselves to malicious hackers that can infect our devices with advanced vulnerability threats. This allows cyber criminals to get access to video feeds and sometimes get audio recordings and listen into sensitive information by making use of the default audio feature from the webcams and CCTVs. They can also use it as a pivot point to hack into other devices in the network, and install malware like ransomware or keyloggers on these devices, which can provide them access into the victim’s private information such as internet banking or social media account information.

As an example, Zaw brought up the Peekaboo vulnerability from 2018, which allows hackers to hijack CCTVs and web cameras to access and tamper with their video feeds.

Another topic explored by Zaw is the recruitment of our home devices into botnets, how our devices can become a tool for cyber criminals to perform DDoS attacks on their targets or to provide Botnet-as-a-service for other cyber criminals. This highlights the importance of protecting ourselves by following the security recommendations of the devices issued by the respective authorities such as changing the default passwords or not connecting them to the same network as where sensitive systems are.

Under the branding of good hackers alliance (gha), Athena Dynamics offers Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) as well as security advisories for both IT and Industrial Control Systems to help organizations improve their security postures with the right protections. Also under Athena Dynamics Academy (ADA) branding, we provide various courses for cyber and related education for all levels from beginner to advanced levels.

Contact us at bd@athenadynamics for more information.  

Watch the full interviews here! (Chinese Language, interview in English with Chinese subs)