A 13 year old boy hacked a drone in just 10 minutes

A 13-year-old boy hacked a drone in just 10 minutes, in full flight, as part of a planned maneuver to warn of the lack of security of the devices of the Internet of Things (IoT). , acronym), reported today.

Reuben Paul, known as "Cyber ​​Ninja", proved that he was able to disconnect a user from his drone and take control of the device, taking advantage of his unsecure protocols , announced today in a statement the cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab.

The experiment, which took place during a conference organized by the Russian company in Cape Town, South Africa, aimed to raise awareness of the need for tougher measures for IoT device manufacturers. such as drones, baby monitors, home and appliances, as well as connected toys.

"It took me less than 10 minutes to hack the drone and control it completely.The lack of security drones is shared by other IoT devices.Consider now if this was done by cyber criminals.If I can do it, who says that more motivated cybercriminals could not do the same thing? ", said the 13-year-old.

"It's important for manufacturers to put security controls on their devices so they do not put consumers at risk, so we have to make sure that the Internet of Things does not become the Internet of things. threats ", added Paul in statements reproduced in a Kaspersky newsletter.

As more and more governments establish controls for connected devices, the companies that manufacture them do not always implement the necessary security aspects, such as the ability to change pbadwords provided by default or day the systems.

A recent report from the Russian firm showed that it was only in the first half of 2018 that IoT devices were attacked with more than 120,000 malware changes, more than three times as much growth. to that recorded a year ago.

"In Latin America, we have recorded more than 30,000 attempts to infect such gadgets in 2018, with routers and surveillance cameras being the most affected targets, including Brazil (72). %), Mexico (13%) and Argentina (4%) topped the list of most affected countries, "said Thiago Marques, a security badyst with the company.