Slideshow

In Pictures: 15 of the scariest things hacked

16 Photos CSO staff (CSO (US))

From televisions to passenger planes, even the most unassuming device can, if accessed by the wrong people, be turned into something more sinister.

  • Hacks are global news The issue of hacking is rarely out of the headlines, especially due to the recent spate of hackings targeting private photos of celebrities. The issue has become global news and sent the internet into a spin, whilst reminding us how vulnerable devices can be to hacking and that we can all become unsuspecting victims. WebHostingBuzz recently released aninfographic detailing the scariest side of hacking, with surveillance, theft and crashes some of the most chilling scenarios.

  • Commercial Planes A cyber-security researcher revealed it is possible to hack satellite communications equipment on passenger jets through their Wi-Fi and inflight entertainment systems. This method could enable someone to hack the plane's avionics equipment and disrupt or change satellite communications, impact on the plane's navigation and safety systems.

  • Medical Equipment In 2012, researchers at McAfee revealed they had found a way to subvert an implanted insulin pump to make it deliver 45 days' worth of insulin in one go. After having a pacemaker fitted in 2007, Vice President Dick Cheney considered hacking such a threat that he had the wireless functions turned off.

  • Power Plants Research released in 2013 exposed vulnerabilities in power plants across the U.S. and Canada, which leave them open to hacking. If exploited they could be used to crash or hijack the servers controlling power plants, electronic substations and water utilities.

  • Baby Monitors In April 2014 an Ohio couple awoke to the sound of an unknown man shouting "wake up baby!" through their wireless baby monitor. The Internet-enabled monitors allow parents to watch over their children remotely, through their smartphone or an Internet browser.

  • Drones The Iranian military claimed responsibility for the 2011 crash-landing of an America drone, by sending it fake GPS signals. The U.S. military, however, dispute this, saying the crash was caused by a routine malfunction.

  • Prison Cell Doors At the 2011 Hacker Halted conference, researchers showed how it is possible to open every cell door in a prison at once by hacking into an industrial programmable logic controller. The same method was used a year earlier at an Iranian nuclear facility.

  • ATMs In June 2014, two Canadian schoolboys hacked Bank of Montreal ATMs, before highlighting the security risk to the bank. Basic security failures, such as weak passwords, configuration problems and archaic standards can leave ATMs vulnerable to hacks.

  • Satellites It was alleged that in 2008, China-based hackers interfered with two U.S. government satellites, taking control of Lamdsat-7 and Terr AM-1 for up to 12 minutes.

  • Photos August 2014 saw a major violation of privacy when a hacker posted nude images of female celebrities online, thought to have been stolen from celebrities' backup services, such as iCloud. The hacker listed more than 100 names, claiming to have intimate photos of many of them before posting much of them online, sparking an FBI investigation.

  • Voice Mail In July, British tabloid News of the World was shut down after "the phone hacking scandal." Investigations discovered that over several years the newspaper hacked the phones of celebrities, royaly and murder victims, among others, and accessed their voicemails. The scandal sparked the Leveson Inquiry, a judicial public inquiry into the British media.

  • Toys Researcher Jennifer Savage used her daughter's Wi-Fi connected plastic bunny to demonstrate how toys can be hacked. The hacked Karotz toy played scary music and the camera was used as a spying device.

  • Vehicles Many modern cars contain upwards of 50 electronic control units, which can allow someone to unlock and start the vehicle by sending a text.

  • Appliances In 2012, German researchers used "smart" electric meters to obtain information on when residents were awake, asleep, not at home and what they were watching on TV. Many "smart" devices around the home are left vulnerable to hackers.

  • Hotels Security consultant Jesus Molina revealed that he used an in-room iPad to gain control over lights, temperature and blinds in 200 hotel rooms at the St. Regis Hotel in Shenzhen, China, in the summer of 2004.

  • Smart TVs Samsung came under criticism when it was shown that their "smart" televisions' Facebook app could be tweaked to spy on the set's owners. The limited amount of built-in security possesed by these televisions leave many vulnerable to hackers.

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