The attack on refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets was not a freak event so much as a consequence of a recent change in how equipment is built.Devices that were once almost entirely mechanical, from fridges and heating units to cameras and alarm panels, are now wired to the internet, and anything reachable remotely is reachable by criminals.Can hackers really get into a fridge?The short answer is yes, and the longer answer explains why a growing share of household objects now qualify as potential targets. Any device that connects to the internet, whether directly or through an app, a cloud service, or the home network, can in principle be attacked.That claim is not theoretical. As per Reuters, researchers demonstrated it in 2015 at a Las Vegas hacking conference, where they compromised a Samsung smart refrigerator and intercepted some of the internet traffic passing through it.The appliances nobody thinks aboutMost attacks on connected devices do not target the appliances themselves. Routers account for more than three-quarters of them, according to security-industry data cited by Reuters, which makes sense: a compromised router sees everything travelling through the network behind it.The devices most often targeted are those linked to the internet and controlled remotely. Security cameras, video doorbells, alarm systems, smart locks, thermostats, and central heating all fall into that category. So do refrigerators, ovens, and washing machines once they join the wider internet, and even some toothbrushes now carry a connection.The pool keeps expanding because manufacturers have spent years adding connectivity to products that were previously mechanical, and each addition creates another entry point.What an intruder can do once insideThere are broadly two outcomes. The first is information gathering. A camera can reveal the inside of a home, a microphone can capture sound, and a router can expose the traffic crossing the network. The second is control, which allows an attacker to switch a device on or off, alter its settings, or lock the owner out of an account. A thermostat can be manipulated to change the heating, while a fridge or freezer can be pushed to disrupt temperature controls.Worse cases involve poorly secured devices being used as a stepping stone to other systems on the same network, or to personal information tied to online accounts.Cars and critical infrastructureVehicles have been shown to be vulnerable too. A recent Reuters report on the matter states that in 2015, researchers took remote control of a moving Jeep through its internet-connected entertainment system, prompting the recall of about 1.4 million vehicles and software fixes.Nearly a decade later, a separate flaw let researchers track, unlock, and start certain Kia models using only a licence plate number. Kia corrected the problems within months, and there was no evidence they had been exploited in real-world attacks.Power and water networks sit in a different category. They carry layers of security, monitoring, and regulation that consumer gadgets lack, which does not make them immune to attack, but does make them considerably harder to reach than a household appliance on home Wi-Fi.Limiting the exposureStandard advice from cybersecurity experts applies here: change default passwords, switch on two-factor authentication where it exists, and install updates as they arrive. Devices that no longer receive security updates should be replaced or removed, most gadgets should stay on a local network, and products should connect to the wider internet only when there is a genuine reason.The most dependable rule is also the simplest. Fewer connected devices means fewer ways in.
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