Hacker News Reader

Comment by OhMeadhbh | Hacker News Reader

A couple years ago I thought my fridge was appropriately blocked from the intarwebs. But a router update flipped the bit on activating the default guest network (which I normally keep turned off.) So for about 6 months my fridge was getting out to the net via the guest network. I found out about it when I got a call from my ISP asking what the heck was going on. Apparently a bot net had found my fridge and was doing all manner of bad things.

Moral of the story is... always double check your router settings to make sure enshittified iot devices aren't making you look like a newb.

View on HN

Sounds weird, why would you give your fridge your wifi password in the first place?

Well the real question is why would you buy a connected fridge in the first place. Not that I visit fridges alleys in stores on a regular basis but I have never actually seen one.

Their TVs will connect to open networks without asking you. Perhaps the fridges do the same.

Are there evidence it is really happening? Which open wifi network are left in residencial neighborhood? My neighbors aren't tech savy yet they use the wifi configured provided with the router which has a passphrase. I believe even in McDonalds you get the wifi password only upon purchase in the receipt. Most open networks I still encounter are in big stores such as IKEA or airports and you still have to register to connect. I doubt the signal woukd reach even the closest houses anyway.

> Are there evidence it is really happening?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45867034

> Which open wifi network are left in residencial neighborhood?

Some neighborhoods are mixed use. Some residences are in dense buildings. Some people configured guest networks with no password. Some ISPs made their home gateways captive portal access points.

Having a guest network doesn't mean it is open. It can just means you have a passphrase that is different than other home devices and that you may be isolating them in a separate VLAN.

I would never run an open network on my home connection, there are way too many legal risks unless you can log who is connect to it and when.

No one said guest network meant no password.

> Well the real question is why would you buy a connected fridge in the first place.

It’s getting so you don’t have a real choice. You can buy a fridge (or any appliance pretty much) that is basic and doesn’t do the connected thing. But often you want the upscaled models because of real hardware features that are desirable. And these are always bundled with the “connectivity” options. It used to be you just ignored these bits. But they’re getting more and more invasive.

what hardware features in a fridge can you not live without apart from "keeps inside cold & light comes on when I open the door" ?

I don't know about "live without", but automatic defroster, crisper drawer, ice maker, water dispenser, alarm when the door isn't closed. being divided such that my food choices fit easily into the fridge (some people want to put a large wide pizza box directly into their fridge), power consumption.I dunno if you'd call looks a hardware feature, but it has to match the rest of the kitchen decor. The TV in the door isn't something I want at all though.

I may an idiot and haven't been in the market for new appliances for a while, but between an ice maker and a door alarm, how could you possibly require Internet acccess? Does it offer an app on your phone to operate the ice maker when you're not home?

travisgriggs said refrigerator manufacturers limited desired hardware features to models which had undesired network features. This was the last comment which mentioned network features.

delaminator asked what hardware features could not be lived without.

fragmede listed desired hardware features.

probably the ice maker or something. I bought new appliances a few months ago, and I made sure none of them had WiFi. I even paid £50 more for the washing machine that didn't have an app.

Ref Silicon Valley: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HcXu4_K1tMQ&t=45s

Louis Rossmann has one. He loves it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQTIuX84ids

It has a large Android tablet in the front door, so it can show you ads – coming soon.

omg - why let your router update? :)

most updates are downgrades in my experience unless it addresses something very specific

Not updating the router just sounds like another security incident waiting to happen. The botnet will just be on your router instead of your fridge

Updates themselves are a security risk, because they're a first-party malware vector. Pick your poison.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com