Kitchen Chores for 2018: Wash Dishes, Block Malware.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-27/kitchen-chores-for-2018-wash-dishes-block-malware.html

As Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and General Electric Co. (GE) make refrigerators that can tell you’re out of milk and ovens that can be switched on with a mobile phone, Eva Chen warns such advances may also let hackers into your home.

The president of Trend Micro Inc. (4704), the Tokyo-based developer of security software, said threats from hacking will spread as appliances, cameras and other devices connect to the Web. She’s betting that protection for the so-called Internet of things will be among the main reasons her company will more than double its number of users in three years.

“You’ll feel like you’re living in a glass house,” Chen, 55, said in a recent interview in Tokyo. “The consumer doesn’t even know that their device is hooking up to the Internet and sending all this information out.”

Shares rose 0.7 percent to 3,605 yen in Tokyo trading today, narrowing the decline for the year to 2 percent.

As Samsung, GE, Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) race to infuse more technology into everyday devices, potential risks are beginning to emerge. Already, there’s been a reported case of a hacker who terrorized a family in Houston by remotely hijacking a baby monitor. This year, the European Cybercrime Centre warned that Web-connected appliances could lead to new types of targeted attacks, theft and possibly physical injuries.

Insufficient Precautions

Panasonic Corp. (6752) encrypts all communication to and from connected home appliances, as well as passwords at multiple levels, a spokeswoman, Chieko Gyobu, said.

Security experts are skeptical that manufacturers of household appliances have taken sufficient precautions give the sophistication of today’s hackers.

“Anyone that thinks that your appliance maker is technology- and security-astute is sadly misinformed,” said Ron Culler, chief technology officer at Secure Designs Inc. in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Video, audio, environmental controls, security devices, etc. have the potential to expose us to new threats.”

According to Trend Micro’s Chen, the key to protecting the home is to stop cyber intruders at the Internet router, the device that directs traffic from the Internet and within homes. In most houses, the router accesses the Web through a cable plugged into a wall and then communicates with household devices wirelessly, typically over Wi-Fi.

Doubling Users

Trend Micro is releasing software designed to protect the home as household hacking risks rise, Chen said. The company, ranked by Gartner Inc. (IT) as the world’s fourth-largest security softwareprovider, has already teamed up with a major consumer electronics brand, Chen said, declining to name the partner.

The company estimates its user base could grow to 63 million in 2016 from 25.5 million as of the end of last year, largely because of the proliferation of Web-connected household products.

“Just as there will always be disease, there will always be doctors,” Chen said. “All we need to make sure is that the good guys stay together and put the best effort together with the best infrastructure.”

An employee demonstrates using the air conditioner control function of the Samsung Smart Home system with a smartphone at the Samsung Innovation Museum, operated by Samsung Electronics Co., in Suwon, South Korea.