If the thought of increasingly hackable cars is alarming, security experts add to everybody’s paranoia by warning that we should be even more concerned about our homes. The burglars of the future will no longer use files and crowbars but wi-fi scanners and laptops. Wi-fi-enabled front door locks that can be opened and closed with a smartphone may be at the cutting edge of wireless home security, but they are not unhackable; nothing is, according to experts. Hackers could for instance turn webcams and television sets against users and monitor everything they are doing or saying. The next generation of light bulbs that is supposed to be connected to the internet could be manipulated, as could be digital fridges and toilets. Your food might go bad without you knowing why, and if a computer-savvy friend of yours wants to play a practical joke on you, your Bluetooth-enabled toilet may suddenly spray water up rather than down. However, the greatest fears are related to smartphones. At another security conference in Las Vegas, conference participants were shown how easy it is to take over Android smartphones by injecting codes via computer games; other researchers sucked passwords and emails from an iPhone by hacking a power adapter. But the scariest scenario painted by security experts is the hacking of implanted medical devices. It may sound like the stuff science fiction films or James Bond movies are made of, but implantable medical devices like pacemakers or insulin pumps could be hacked to kill someone. Before you throw out your computers and smartphones now, you might be reassured by some experts who claim that there is a big gap between theory and practice, on the one hand, and the research community and users on the other. However, even if exotic conference talk does not yet impact on our everyday lives, the days when ‘ethical hackers’ broke into the data banks of governments and banks to expose their carefully kept secrets and possible wrongdoings, or computer nerds got ATMs to spit out ready money, might soon seem tame and quaint in comparison to what the digital future has in store for us. Statements True False First four words 0 It is absolutely safe to use credit cards for online shopping. 1 It is certain that IT geeks will hack into all kinds of computers. 2 The more electronic gadgets are built into new cars, the safer they will become. 3 Despite the computer revolution, criminals are predicted to use the same house-breaking tools. 4 Household appliances will also be easy targets for manipulation in future. 5 Smartphones are the least vulnerable electronic devices. 6 Experts strongly advise users to throw out their smartphones and computers. 7 ‘Ethical hackers’ make secret governmental files accessible to the public. Everybody has heard of 110 Language skills Extras Explore 8 Big brother is watching you Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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