It was clear from the widespread enthusiasm at last month’s Lightfair International conference in Las Vegas that controls and networking are the current hotspot in development of LED lighting systems. The capabilities of such systems are often mind-boggling, and no doubt will play an important role in the future applications of lighting in all kinds of buildings, but amid all the froth around the Internet of Things (even if, as a BoingBoing article proposed recently, the first generation will look more like the Compuserve of Things) we’ve heard very little discussion of the security implications of those widget-packed networks.
Now, with a fresh report from a UK security firm saying a team of six hackers was able to take over an a LIFX Wi-Fi LED network, perhaps we will begin to see security taken more seriously. Katherine Tweed of GreenTechMedia reported yesterday on the discovery and some of its implications.
Researchers at the U.K. firm Context Information Security recently hacked an LIFX Wi-Fi LED network, taking control of the bulb and gaining access to the mesh and Wi-Fi network that the bulbs were connected to. LIFX light bulbs are one of the first products to have integrated with Google’s Nest home platform.
Read on GreenTechEfficiency: Security Firm Hacks Connected LED Bulbs: ‘Security Is Not Being Prioritized As Highly As It Should’