Document Type

Project

Lead Author Type

CIS Masters Student

Advisors

Dr. Andrew Kalafut; kalafuta@gvsu.edu

Embargo Period

12-19-2018

Abstract

Convenience is important to everyone. In our fast-paced society, people are willing to pay for devices that can save them time, even if it is just a few minutes. Over the past few years, the Internet of Things (IoT), or smart devices, have become a popular way for people to leverage technology in order to save them time. These devices can be used in every area of a home, including the entryways, the kitchen, and the living room.

While all of these devices make daily life more convenient, their lack of security makes hacker’s lives more convenient, too. The majority of IoT devices lack basic security features and most consumers install the devices in their homes with the default settings. This provides cyber criminals with the means to hack into a system with minimal time and effort.

I focused on the security of a popular smart device, the smart light bulb. I compared the security features of two different smart light bulbs by running a series of penetration tests against them. The main aspects of the light bulbs that were tested include the phone application that controlled the light bulb and the Bluetooth protocol that the phone application used to communicate with the light bulb. These tests show the lack of security in common IoT devices is a serious problem that cyber criminals could take advantage of.

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