Internet of Things devices from the likes of Apple, Fitbit and Samsung will be pushed to their limits this August at the DefCon 23 conference, where hackers have been invited to test the latest gadgets for possible exploits, reports The Register.
Taking place in Las Vegas, DefCon is the largest convention for hackers in the United States, and this year's 'Internet of Things village' will give manufacturers the chance to weed out security flaws ahead of their upcoming product launches. Devices that will be tested at this year's conference include the Apple Time Capsule network storage device, the Fitbit Aria scale and a Samsung Smart Cam IP Baby Monitor.
A description of the new village on DefCon's website reads: “Show us how secure (or insecure) IP enabled embedded systems are. Routers, network storage systems, cameras, HVAC systems, refrigerators, medical devices, smart cars, smart home technology, and TVs—If it is IP enabled, we’re interested.”
The Internet of Things village is being organized by Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), which ran a similar event for router security at last year's DefCon. The Router testing at DefCon 22 took the form of a contest, uncovering 15 vulnerabilities and awarding a $10,000 incentive to the winner.
“Interest in the Internet of Things is rapidly growing and many conferences have been organized on the topic," said ISE's Ted Harrington, as cited by Forbes. "Many individual researchers have focused their energies on Intenet of Things, but, to our knowledge, no one has previously put together a hacking event of this scale to focus on improving IoT. ”
DefCon 23 will take place at Paris & Bally's in Las Vegas from August 6 - 9.
