The industry is only just starting to look at the security challenges for connected devices, according to Hans Kwaaitaal, VP strategic partner relations, Conax.
In a wide-ranging interview with Broadband TV News, he said that “we are starting to see a whole range of new threats” and it is useful to understand the issue by making a comparison with the PC.
Unlike the latter, STBs connected to the internet do not have a firewall, and if you “attack one hybrid STB you attack them all.”
This is a big threat and can result in hackers taking over a STB population. Hybrid STBs are very vulnerable to denial of service attacks and it is worth bearing in mind that OTT boxes have no protection at all.
Kwaaitaal added that the focus now is on security for DVB broadcasts and not enough is being looked at connected devices.
However, Conax is and has been doing so since the beginning. Indeed, it set up a security evaluation scheme for STBs around 5-6 years ago.
When asked about whether complacency had crept into the industry, Kwaaitaal said that one of the challenges was that purchase decisions used to in the past be largely made by CTOs. Today, they are usually made by purchasing departments.
