The Latest Security Vulnerability: Your Toilet 211
NobleSavage writes "We all knew it was just a matter of time. With the rush to put more and more appliances on-line Japanese toilet-maker Satis, one of Japan's largest commode companies, has finally networked the toilet. Just as you would have predicted, the information security company Trustwave Holdings has published an advisory regarding Satis-brand toilets. According to Trustwave, every Satis toilet has the same hard-coded Bluetooth PIN, which means any person using the 'My Satis' [Android] application can control any Satis toilet."
obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
No, you're mistaken. The urinal takes the cake.
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Yes, just as long as you're not going spear phishing. That will void the warranty.
Re:obligatory Roadhouse question (Score:2)
do those cakes taste better than the big white mint?
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Sounds like a job for Nortons.
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"The cake is a lie."
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Also obligatory, even if it is kind of old (Score:2)
http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-etoilet-to-revolutionize-online-shitting,633/ [theonion.com]
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I hope you're not poo-poohing this serious problem.
As general Melchett put it:
You know, if there's one thing I've learnt from being in the Army, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh. I knew a Major, who got pooh-poohed, made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh. He pooh-poohed it! Fatal error! 'Cos it turned out all along that the soldier who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other officers who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs. In the end, we had to disband the regiment. Morale totally destroyed... by p
"We all new" (Score:5, Insightful)
I stopped reading right there.
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We're all new, it was just a matter of time.
Here, fixed it.
I am glad the new age finally begins.
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Indeed. Are any articles reviewed before being posted? It would appear not - either that or neither the poster nor the reviewer can speak the good England.
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Samzenpus was just taking the piss.
Kernel Dump (Score:4, Funny)
Brings new meaning to "Kernel Dump"
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The NSA (Score:5, Funny)
The NSA reports it just upgraded the terror alert level to brown after receiving numerous reports that people are using single-ply and not washing their hands after. Remain calm, citizen. The NSA is not in your toilet. Only metadata on your toilet habits are being collected. Remember, a courtesy flush isn't just patriotic, It's The Law(tm).
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Just like the infamous Reverse Cowgirl episode of South Park where the TSA took over the toilets: south-park-new-episode-takes-tsa-toilet-seat-gender-war-video-425858 That could happen too... Remember to wear your safety belt.
Finally, a bit of news. (Score:4, Interesting)
If people can get their heads out of the gutter for a moment, this is really the kind of news that has a higher impact than believed. One could rack up quite a water bill for a unliked neighbor, and kids will have no end to the fun of flushing other's toliets, again leading to fresh water waste. There isn't as much fresh water as people would like to have, and on an island like Japan, I'd imagine that such waste would be felt quite dearly.
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If people can get their heads out of the gutter for a moment ...
If you can't see the humor in a hacked toilet, you're either too stuck up to be tolerable, or too humorless to remain sane.
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If you can't see the humor in a hacked toilet, you're either too stuck up to be tolerable...
So you're saying they might be a bit anal retentive?
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If they could retain that which comes analy we wouldn't be having this problem in the first place.
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Finally? (Score:2)
Revenge (Score:3, Funny)
Suppressed, insulted, and downtrodden for thousands of years, excrement has finally found an ally in technology to enact both escape and revenge upon humanity, their former slave-masters. Poop will finally rule the Earth like it was meant to; no longer confined to tubes and toilets. Freedom awaits; time to raise a stink!
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Poop will finally rule the Earth like it was meant to; no longer confined to tubes and toilets. Freedom awaits; time to raise a stink!
Sure, but it will have to do it in excremental steps.
Surprised me (Score:5, Funny)
Didn't expect the pin vulnerability. I thought it would be an overflow problem.
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Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I mean really - why would you network a toilet?
It plays music. Also light controls, I guess.
the short answer is: telemedicine (Score:5, Insightful)
it's basically an upgraded version of traditional Chinese physicians smelling the emperor's feces as a diagnostic tool
chemical assays of one's urine and feces can test for many health concerns, monitor your diet, and if your medicines need to have their doses adjusted
you'd sit on your toilet in the morning, and then get a message from your doctor saying there's elevated levels of marker in your urine and he wants you to come in the office to check something out
that's the utopian vision anyways
for the dystopian vision, check out all the other comments here
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Umm... I'd prefer a home testing set that allows me to do it when I want it and report directly to my doc by going there.
Now explain again the need for a networked toilet.
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Umm... I'd prefer a home testing set that allows me to do it when I want it and report directly to my doc by going there.
Now explain again the need for a networked toilet.
Honestly, I wouldn't. I'd prefer something inbetween the two ideas... one that notifies me automatically when something is detected and asks if it should be reported to my doctor.
Doing it manually is something that I just wouldn't do through a combination of laziness and forgetfulness. I'd most likely miss out on finding a disease in the early stages before it's symptomatic and is still easily treatable. One day, I'm going to die of something; but if it's something that "if caught earlier, would have bee
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you'd sit on your toilet in the morning, and then get a message from your doctor saying there's elevated levels of marker in your urine and he wants you to come in the office to check something out
This is why I always pee in the sink - though it probably won't be long before the National Sewage Agency will be filtering and inspecting every packet in all of the tubes..
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It has a variety of functions for clean freaks and health monitoring. For example you can raise or lower the seat and remotely flush it from your smartphone. Some people don't like to touch the seat and prefer to flush before doing so to avoid any surprises. Some models can also weigh you when you sit on them or take a body fat reading.
Japanese toilets are incredibly advanced. In comparison ours are barely better than a hole in the ground. They have a kind of swirl flushing mechanism that not only cleans th
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I mean really - why would you network a toilet?
Because a toilet with an air gap gets real messy real quick.
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Well for one, when your local septic tank is full, you can upload your waste to the cloud!
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A tax then I will just use the public ones for free then.
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Pay per shit? Is that a new HBO offer?
App Control (Score:5, Funny)
Chuck Berry (Score:2)
Ur Ine Trouble Now, World... (Score:3)
Oh God - stack overflow!
Futurama - Overly Complicated Japanese Toilet (Score:3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE0sddhCIdE
What a travesty! (Score:2)
Security is really taking a dump! No way do I want NSA bugs coming out of this toilet!
Begs the question... (Score:2)
Of course, this is Japan who, as we all know, are into all sorts of weird shit.
I can't believe... (Score:2)
I can't believe no one mentioned fiber. :p
Better writeup (Score:2)
I am going to fry your ass (Score:2)
gets a new meaning (Japanese toilet seats are heated - someting i think of as very pleaseant).
obligatory (Score:3)
but does it run linux?
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Quite possible, a lot of these devices run a small embedded Linux kernel on an ARM processor. On the other hand it might just be a Bluetooth UART connected to a microcontroller.
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Dude, I'd already be happy if it does NOT run.
Share (Score:2)
"You have just taken a massive dump, pee on the share button to post it on your Facebook wall."
Next Step For Networked Toilets (Score:2)
Prior Art (Score:2)
DDOS? (Score:2)
So is this a DDOS (Doody Denial of Service)?
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The only existing fancy technology from a use-perspective that makes sense is the integrated bidet. The new types of technology that can make the toilet experience better have only to do with form factor. Changing the shape of the seat and the size of the opening, and changing the height of the bowl. In short, these changes would make the toilet
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The only existing fancy technology from a use-perspective that makes sense is the integrated bidet.
Not sure I would like that hygiene wise. Washing your bum in the toilet?
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A lot of them feel the same way about toilet paper... AFAIK the jets of water do an excellent job on their own without the person touching themselves, so the people used to them feel that using TP results in getting our hands filthy with germs and the urine/feces being smeared around & left behind in a thin hopefully-undetectable layer.
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OK son, let me explain:
1) Wipe to remove excess stuff.
2) Use conventional bidet to remove the rest and pieces of toilet paper left behind, attached to your bum...
3) Wash conventional bidet.
4) Wash hands.
The method you are describing is going to send shit all over the place, even where you wouldn't get any by just wiping. It is a little bit like when you take a piss and drops bounce back outside the toilet. What do you think is going to happen with a built-in bidet?
Also, there is nothing wrong with touching
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Honestly they bing this kind of thing on themselves.
Ah, a Microsoft toilet. That explains it.
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Ah, a Microsoft toilet. That explains it.
Okay fine, just can we please not make paperclip jokes now...
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It seems you're a little constrained down there, do you need any help with that?
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How complicated does a toilet need to be?
This is Japan we're talking about. A toilet requires a 38-button control panel with a liquid-crystal display. I wish I was joking... [wikipedia.org]
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Re:As John Crapper intended? (Score:4, Interesting)
A toilet requires a 38-button control panel with a liquid-crystal display. I wish I was joking... [wikipedia.org]
I especially like the large buttons with the butt wash and butt dry symbols. For once those kind of symbols seem intelligible. Very accommodating to foreign travelers too. If I encountered one of these in a public restroom in Japan I might be able to figure out basic operations despite being unable to read Japanese. I wonder what the display looks like when it issues the warning "Overload imminent - gaijin buttocks detected".
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What's funny about this?
The buttons in the hidden panel are if you want to finely control temperature (of the seat and of the water), fan speed etc.
Re:As John Crapper intended? (Score:5, Interesting)
for the record, i and others track our energy/water/gas usage to better understand our habits and be more resource-efficient (though for me, really just to save money).
Re:hackers control toilets (Score:4, Funny)
All kinds of agencies will now be able to gather more very valuable information about yourself too...
Heck even Google will now be able to target you with diarrhea ads instantaneously! Insurance companies can now tell that you are an heavy beer drinker etc. Possibilities are endless...
Hey, now the DEA can oin the NSA... (Score:2)
in the illegal spying. game. They just need to have the company install a networked trace metabolite and flushed contraband detector.
Re:hackers control toilets (Score:4, Interesting)
The threat on these, really, does exist. In certain situation susceptibility to traffic analysis is a security risk. For instance, in a home invasion, assuming that one washing after going to the toilet, it might provide an interval of venerability.
Re:rly? (Score:5, Funny)
Great the way Trustwave publishes that they missed the point these things were designed to be as simple as possible.
As "simple as possible" would be to leave the bluetooth OUT of the commode.
We've had flush toilets (of one form or another) since the 31st century BC.
None of my electronic devices need to communicate with my toilet. They pretty much live in fear of that dam thing.
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I don't take electronics into the bathroom at all.
*ploop*
That's the sound of having to get a new phone.
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Everything is better with bluetooth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61a0qHFcQE4 [youtube.com]
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We've had flush toilets (of one form or another) since the 31st century BC.
I know this is meant to be humorous, but the flush toilet was invented in the 1800s. It's recent technology -- about as old as the motorcar. It was inevitable that it would get the benefits of electronics...although I can't see what benefit is gained by wiring up a toilet.
I think we've gotten to the point where we put electronics into things just for the hell of it.
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Just try wikipedia before replying on a subject you don't know shit about.
31st century BC is perhaps a bit doubtful. It's shitting in a trench with running water. But, something you would recognise as a toilet appeared in Richmond Palace in 1596. Too bad Queen Elizabeth (the first) refused to use it because of the noise it made.
A bowl you shit in, with a drain, and a flushing apparatus above it.
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We all live in fear of beings we can't communicate with. Maybe this is the first step to bridging the gap.
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Either that or stop dropping phones in it.
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Could be they underestimated the reach of Bluetooth, or underestimated the cost of water for flushing.
Or perhaps you are overestimating both? Will the signal go 10 metres through concrete walls? Will flushing the toilet amount to any more than spare change in the long run? I honestly wouldn't know, I live in a part of the world where getting clean water isn't much of a problem.
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You shouldn't need "clean water" for "flushing". Toilets are an IDEAL application for "grey water". Just slightly filter the waste water from showering, hand-washing, etc., and send it into your toilet. The water (and sewer flow) from flushing your toilet could well be completely free, as you would have had just as much use and output (of grey water) with no toilet.
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Some of the stuff that goes into my sink and bathtub is not the sort of thing I want lingering around in a toilet bowl or clogging up the works.
I suppose I could filter it, or have dedicated handwashing sinks, or something.
But even then, my shower drain is below the toilet. So I'd need to pump the water uphill to get it into the toilet.
It seems like I'll need an independent grey water system, which will need maintained.
And as it stands I've never had to clear a clog on the clean side of a toilet, and I'm n
Re:Did you bidet? (Score:4, Funny)
Thousands of people in Japan are getting hot water sprayed up their asses right now.
Do they consider that desirable or undesirable? Japanese culture has always been a bit difficult for me to understand.
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Thousands of people in Japan are getting hot water sprayed up their asses right now.
Do they consider that desirable or undesirable? Japanese culture has always been a bit difficult for me to understand.
Well, *up* the ass wouldn't be, but *on* the ass would be desirable (if it's not too hot) since it's the expected function of a bidet. (I've never used or even seen one, all I did was read the Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org].)
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Not if you know how to wipe properly & have decent TP. The benefit in bidets is that they avoid the risk of getting germs on your hands; most people that grew up using TP know how to use it to get their butts completely clean under normal circumstances.
Re: Did you bidet? (Score:4, Insightful)
1) Wash your hair
2) Smear the shit around with piece of paper
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Re:More networking of stuff that shouldn't be (Score:4)
Setting the thermostat seems good. Went on a trip and forgot/didn't bother to turn heat off?, you can do it. Coming back home in the freezing winter?, turn it on some hours before you get back home or even have something like "I want 19C by 8:00 PM" and the computerized system figures out how to make it happen cheapest.
At the least I'd like to be able to know how much my stuff is consuming electricity (global wattage, fridge, water heater..) and figure out if anything is not working properly (such as the fridge eating too much) and be able to fucking read it from my desktop. With daily, weekly, monthly ect power usage charts. Computer security is a big problem with stuff like that, sure.
Funnily the crapper maybe can be networked so it reports a leak! It doesn't need two-way communication though, just send a signal to the central computer.
Re:Oh the possibilities... (Score:4)
Well, since it's a Japanese toilet, probably a lot -- Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] listed some of the *basic* features:
While the toilet looks like a Western-style toilet at first glance, there are numerous additional features—such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, automatic flushing, wireless control panel, room heating and air conditioning for the room—included either as part of the toilet or in the seat. These features can be accessed by an (often wireless) control panel attached to the seat or mounted on a nearby wall.
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Wow. Some people take shit way too seriously.
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mario jumped on them.
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And let's better not talk about overflow, and for once I don't care about its backup capabilities.
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This is one case where lack of backup functionality is actually a feature.
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Please, please don't tell my boss or he'll order a few of them for our server room.
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Usually, devices with hardcoded PINs only are in pairing mode for a limited time (30 seconds) after pressing some special buttons.
It#s sepculation, but perhaps this here is really "hackable" with permanent pairing mode?
Or perhaps it's only news because it is a toilet.
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Yup. I don't think I own a single bluetooth device that DOESN'T have a hardcoded PIN. My phone/PC/laptop/etc support pairing to devices that don't, but everything I'd want to attach them to just hardcodes 1234 or 0000.
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