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Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by criddell on Thursday September 06, 2018 @01:50PM (#17927963)
> That feels a lot safer.

In what way?

Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by adrianmonk on Thursday September 06, 2018 @02:09PM (#17928127)
Probably the same risks as with any IoT device. Any device is dangerous to some extent if it:

(1) has internet connectivity,

(2) has poor security (due to bad design/implementation and/or lack of updates), and

(3) is on your internal network.

It may not be a valuable target itself, but it can serve as a beachhead to launch further attacks on other devices on the same network. Assuming you rely on some firewall-style network security (a notion of inside and outside), which most people do.

Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by criddell on Thursday September 06, 2018 @02:49PM (#17928541)
So basically, it's dangerous in the same way that laptops, cell phones, tablets, video game consoles, security cameras, ebook readers, and printers are all dangerous?
Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by adrianmonk on Thursday September 06, 2018 @03:28PM (#17928888)
It's the same type of risk, but the degree of risk varies.

Laptops run operating systems written by and supported by software companies. Because software is one of their core competencies, they are more likely to understand vulnerabilities and release updates to patch them in a timely manner. And they are more likely to continue releasing updates for years.

IoT devices (security cameras, etc.) are usually made by companies whose core competency is hardware. They tend to think in terms of making money by selling hardware, and the software may be viewed as overhead and of secondary importance. You are lucky to get any updates at all, and updates tend to cease long before the hardware stops working.

Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by lancesells on Thursday September 06, 2018 @03:57PM (#17929088)
I also think there's a higher chance of smaller IoT device makers selling your data to third parties. On the flip side you could probably add in any device from Alphabet companies to collecting, analyzing and selling that data.
Re:New Roomba Has Persistent Maps, Selective Room Cleaning, ... by blang on Thursday September 06, 2018 @02:07PM (#17928101)
My guess would be no way for outsiders to access the camera.