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Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

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41–50 of 58 posts

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#41
post #4

That cartoon about Siemens and wires etc...it's actually more horrifying than you think. All that industrial control stuff with MODBUS and SCADA and other brain damage: it has even less security than the IoT junk, i.e. none! I worked on a safety critical system in which we designed security and fail safe right from the beginning. Hardwired state machine controllers for things that could explode. The hardware engineer…

> All that industrial control stuff with MODBUS and SCADA and other brain damage: it has even less security than the IoT junk, i.e. none! Right... because industrial automation networks should never be connected to publicly accessible networks without security in between. PLC's and sensors don't need internet or intranet access so why would you connect them? The problem is Industrial engineers aren't IT or security e…

> between that machine and the rest of the world sits a humble PC Engines box running a custom FreeBSD image that gives them secure remote access to the machine

What hardware + hardened OS would you recommend for jump boxes? OpenBSD, Linux, pfSense?

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#43

I don't know why this article keeps saying HomeKit doesn't do bluetooth. https://developer.apple.com/support/homekit-accessory-protoc... >[HomeKit Accessory Protocol] supports two transports, IP and Bluetooth LE.

And this article doesn't even mention Bluetooth Mesh. Yes, it's still very new and yet to be deployed to the extent of Z-Wave and ZigBee, but with the ability to directly connect to smartphones Bluetooth Mesh could overtake those protocols in a few years.

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#45

This article has a cynicism that feels born of a ton of experience. I’ve only gone as far as a couple different colored lights (Hue and LIFX). And I think I might be replacing most of them with dumb bulbs when I move to a new place in a couple months. They’re just not worth the hassle.

Yeah, I went all-in on smart bulbs (Philips) and they are just impractical. I do however recommend dimmable dumb bulbs along with smart switches like Lutron. They are easy to install, "just-work" and give you 90% of what you need.

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#46
post #6
post #4

That cartoon about Siemens and wires etc...it's actually more horrifying than you think. All that industrial control stuff with MODBUS and SCADA and other brain damage: it has even less security than the IoT junk, i.e. none! I worked on a safety critical system in which we designed security and fail safe right from the beginning. Hardwired state machine controllers for things that could explode. The hardware engineer…

It really amazes me the kind of stuff that will slide in this industry. I have seen the web front ends for the datacenter cooling systems of certain large tech companies where the password is simply password. Nobody cares much about these things, so it goes unnoticed.

Move fast and leave the front door open for others to break things

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#47
post #36

i moved house recently. people keep buying me IoT housewarming gifts. i'd rather receive a potato with a telnet chip jammed into it because at least i can turn it into gnocchi.

What is a "telnet chip"? Quick google came up empty.

not a technical term, had hoped that was clear.

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#48
post #4

That cartoon about Siemens and wires etc...it's actually more horrifying than you think. All that industrial control stuff with MODBUS and SCADA and other brain damage: it has even less security than the IoT junk, i.e. none! I worked on a safety critical system in which we designed security and fail safe right from the beginning. Hardwired state machine controllers for things that could explode. The hardware engineer…

I have a background in traffic control and have just started the SANS ICS410 course. It's scary how much the security depends on the network. No defence in depth.

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#49

This article has a cynicism that feels born of a ton of experience. I’ve only gone as far as a couple different colored lights (Hue and LIFX). And I think I might be replacing most of them with dumb bulbs when I move to a new place in a couple months. They’re just not worth the hassle.

Yeah, I went all-in on smart bulbs (Philips) and they are just impractical. I do however recommend dimmable dumb bulbs along with smart switches like Lutron. They are easy to install, "just-work" and give you 90% of what you need.

Why are the Philips smart bulbs impractical? I was thinking of buying a bunch of them for use with google home.

Re: Dumbass Home 2.0. How modern IoT works, how to automate your rented box today

#50
post #21
post #16

The only way to win is not to play. It is completely daft to me that all these devices require an Internet connection to function. I will never allow something like that into my house (along with home assistants like Alexa). I have achieved a decent level of automation using simple timer switches (they have ones that adjust on/off times based on your latitude), completely disconnected motion sensing lights, and by si…

Not all, no. HomeKit and ZWave don't require an Internet connection. I use a bunch of ZWave devices connected via Ethernet through a Raspberry Pi with hassio and a ZWave USB adapter - controlled from my phone when it connects to my wifi network. To protect your wifi network, make sure you have a decent gateway in place. OpenWRT does a great job, but there are many others as well.

Phillips Hue lights also don't require an internet connection, I've tested mine.
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