Which kind of washing machine should I buy?

[somethingfunny]

8 hours ago, imron said:

Internet connected appliances are notoriously insecure

 

I have no internet connected appliances, because the idea seems ludicrous to me.  But I wonder what you mean by "insecure".  Are you worried about someone hacking your washing machine and increasing the temperature so all your socks shrink?

[Shelley]

Hacking the washing machine might be a backdoor to your entire LAN and then the security of your PCs, phones etc could be at risk.

[imron]

6 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Are you worried about someone hacking your washing machine and increasing the temperature so all your socks shrink?

No, I'm worried about appliance manufacturers not bothering with security updates for the appliances they develop, especially once an appliance is already a few years old and no longer the current model, and then having a whole bunch of unpatched an insecure devices sitting around and in a best case scenario vulnerable to being used in a botnet, and a worse case scenario spreading viruses (especially ransomware ones that encrypt important files and require payments in bitcoin to unlock) to other devices on the local network.

 

It's already a pain to have to keep servers that I manage current with security updates.  I don't want to have to become sysadmin for my fridge, washing machine, dishwasher and tv also (oh boy and don't get me started on 'smart' TVs that have always on microphones that send data to remote servers - yeah, not in my house thanks).

 

Further reading

[somethingfunny]

I feel the same way about the amazon echo thing.  An always on microphone, in your house, connected to the internet.  It actually discourages me from visiting people who have them in their houses.  I still don't really understand how people can think this is a sensible thing.

[imron]

Now imagine your 5 year old, unpatched and out of date smart washing machine has the same technology so it can take voice commands.

 

RATs are already a serious enough problem with laptops, just wait until they're in your washing machine and fridge too, except as a consumer you have no way to maintain the software side of your hardware. 

 

It's quite ironic, but being in the software industry and knowing the goings on, has turned me in to somewhat of a Luddite in terms of my own personal computing. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

@imron

Thanks for the link. Interesting

 

15 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

I have no internet connected appliances, because the idea seems ludicrous to me. 

 

Totally agree. Looking on Amazon they have  iKettles now. You can remotely control it with your phone, operate it outside the house, program start times etc. I am at a loss as to why anyone would want such features.

 

You still have to manually fill it. Is someone really going to take out their phone, switch on the app and press start, as apposed to just tapping the button on the kettle as put it back on its holder.

 

However I think the off IOT devices are useful. I just got a 60," smart TV and installed it last night. Actually that is useful. You can use apps like iQIYI (for those of us in China) to broadcast HD movies from your phone to TV. 

Less reliant on torrents and downloading subtitles

[abcdefg]

23 hours ago, Pengyou said:

Thanks for the replies and pics!

 

And that's it? Nothing more? Sure is not much fun helping you, Ms Non-Friend. I feel cheated.

[imron]

1 hour ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

Actually that is useful

Are the benefits worth the tradeoff?  Hackers are actively trying to exploit features of smart TVs.

 

Personally, I can't think of any functionality a Smart TV could offer that would make me want one.

[DavyJonesLocker]

well, I suppose it depends how smart is smart. As I say I find the feature of being able to watch Movies and TV shows from your phone app to broadcast on TV very useful. Several people can watch it at the same time. 

 

What are the alternatives, download a movie, TV show, put on to a USB stick and plug in, then you have the hassle of downloading srt/ass files and trying to ensure they are in sync for those who need it. Apps like iQIYI have chinese subs (and often English too).

 

As for security, I do believe the risks are overblown and is a bit of scaremongering. Of the hundreds of millions of wifi capable devices we use these days,  how many are actually hacked in % terms. That is to not to say we should not have a lackadaisical approach to it but it needs to be put in context of all the risk we take in life from the moment we wake up. 

 

 

 

[889]

Hey, you've got nice enough machines there, for what they are.

 

But you really ought to look into a racier, Italian model.

 

Like my Zanussi.

 

Gets 1600 rpm on the straightaway.

 

That's power.

[somethingfunny]

I wash my clothes with rocks in a stream.

 

Try hacking that.

[Shelley]

@abcdefg At least they replied, there are loads of questions with comprehensive replies that don't even get an acknowledgement from the OP.

[imron]

2 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Try hacking that.

Careful, or the rocks will hack the clothes.

[Lu]

On 13/11/2017 at 2:38 AM, abcdefg said:

And that's it? Nothing more?

I think the 'buy someone a meal/beer' option is not included in the forum software. We'll all have to make do with typed thank-you posts and reaction buttons.

[abcdefg]

Not a big deal, of course, Lu, but I always hope the person whose question we helped answer will return with more information that will increase my knowledge of the subject somehow. A simple "thanks" just ends the conversation.