The worst IoT, smart home hacks of 2020 (so far)

Researchers warned at the start of 2020 that the emergence of 'shadow IoT devices' -- such as employee devices connected to corporate networks without the knowledge of IT teams -- are putting organizations at serious risk. 

Fitness trackers, smartwatches, and medical devices are only some of many IoT endpoints that can be exploited to gain a foothold into corporate networks.  

Via: ZDNet

In February, an alert was issued that warned of a vulnerability in over 2,300 smart building access systems that was being exploited by attackers to launch DDoS attacks. Linear eMerge E3 systems were being targeted.

Via: ZDNet

McAfee said in February that "model hacking" can be used to compromise the machine learning (ML) and intelligent systems in modern vehicles. A study into the security risks of smart vehicles revealed it was possible to compromise the MobilEye camera system, used in many car models today. 

Via: McAfee

ESET, too, documented how other home IoT devices -- in this case, Fibaro, Homematic, and eLAN hubs used to connect and control full IoT setups -- were exploitable for nefarious purposes.  

The severe vulnerabilities included unauthenticated, remote code execution, full device hijacking, and Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks.

Via: ESET

In early May, cybersecurity researchers revealed a new form of malware, Kaiji, that is specifically targeting IoT devices and Linux servers. The malware is compromising devices via brute-force attacks to rope them into a botnet that has the capability to perform six different types of DDoS attacks.

Via: ZDNet

While not your standard home IoT setup, high-performance supercomputing systems across the UK, Germany, and Switzerland were targeted and infected with cryptocurrency mining malware in May, forcing operators to close down numerous clusters.

Via: ZDNet