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Amazon FireTv Cube scares the shit out of me (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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I just received a new Fire TV cube gen 3, because my old one is malfunctioning. I know, I hate these devices myself, but it's the only option right now, since a new version of the Nvidia shield isn't coming in the foreseeable future.

So, I plugged in the power chord and the HDMI cable into the cube.

When it booted up it showed a screen that it's downloading the newest update. At first I thought this must be some typo-bug on the initial boot steps, because I haven't even connected it to the internet yet, neither via cable nor did I go through the wifi setup.

After the update has finished, I was greeted with my real name and the cube indeed had the actual WiFi settings!

WTF?! How's that even possible?

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[–] 0 points 2 years ago (6 children)

My dude, if someone is able to just walk up to your house with a random device and hang out long enough to establish a wifi connection and pull out any sort of useful data you have WAY BIGGER PROBLEMS than someone potentially using your Amazon account to order dildos.

First of all, they have to already know you have that device.
Then they have to physically get close enough to it for a connection to be made.
THEN they have to hang around long enough for any sort of updates and shit to happen.
THEN THEN they have to try and figure out how to get any useful data from this connection, which is likely an extremely limited one unless they've already established how to pivot out of the device and into something else in which case they probably would have just done that through your original device anyway.
THEN THEN THEN they have to find a way to remove said useful information to a device that can actually store it.

All while standing next to your front door holding their dick.

It would be FAR easier to just leave a random USB stick on your porch and wait for your dumb ass to forget it isn't yours.

Or, even easier than that, just goddamn buy your information on the open market. They already have your address. It's not like you can't be found.

Have I illustrated quite yet why these low percentage attacks are the realm of movies?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

    First of all, they have to already know you have that device.

    Ie: any amazon smart device; which are becoming increasingly popular and found in many homes globally.

    Also, I'm not taking about someone targeting me, you, or anyone specifically. I'm talking about someone wandering around looking for homes that happen to have a vulnerable device and seeing where they can get from there.

    Really not hard to find.

    THEN they have to hang around long enough for any sort of updates and shit to happen.

    Trivial when you consider not everyone lives in a single-family home with significant yardspace around it. Apartments exist, so do smaller multi-family dwellings.

    THEN THEN they have to try and figure out how to get any useful data from this connection

    The useful info here being your WIFI password (the info this connection is intended to spread) allowing an attacker to piviot to the rest of your network.

    THEN THEN THEN they have to find a way to remove said useful information to a device that can actually store it.

    This would be where I've repeatedly talked about an attacker being able to purchase an amazon device, jailbreak it, and use it to connect to your network

    They can buy a device from Amazon then have all the time in the world to figure out a method of retrieving data from it. Once a method is worked out, they then deploy it against unsuspecting victims. (ie any random home they can get near and find an amazon device thats broadcasting looking for new devices)

    if someone is able to just walk up to your house with a random device and hang out long enough to establish a wifi connection and pull out any sort of useful data you have WAY BIGGER PROBLEMS

    I completely agree which is why I'm not happy with Amazon providing a hole to achieve exactly that.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    Can't this all be prevented by the already connected devices checking if the new device matches a newly purchased, not yet set up device in your purchase history? Really slim chance someone eavesdrops on its id and retransmits fast enough to hijack the setup

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Possibly.

    A) has amazon actually implemented such a system?

    B) do you trust it's functioning correctly? Both now and for the foreseeable future.(would/could you even know if it wasn't?)

    Side note: does this feature work with factory reset and/or re-sold devices?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago*

    I don't see why they wouldn't. No way to verify I guess but it's really hard to think Amazon wouldn't come up with a system equivalent or better than what I did while reading this thread.

    I imagine it'd be a one time convenience thing, or maybe you could open amazon and click 'set up this device again' or something and it reactivates

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Oh, by the way, the person with the device has to have received one that wasn't already tied to THEIR account in any way. You know, like by the automated system that sends these things out reading a barcode on the side of the box that associates device IDs with a particular account. Not sure about anything else but this was the case a decade ago when I bought my first Kindle. I'd imagine it's a bit more sophisticated now.

    Go hang around a random apartment complex with wifi sniffing boxes and see how long it is before someone tackles you.

    Honey, if you think a wifi password is needed to pivot to a network then you don't know what the word pivot means. At that point you're fucking BREACHED, BITCH. There's no pivoting, only ownership.

    Ah yes, just jailbreak the Amazon device with phantom software that somehow has completely different checksums but still... has the same checksums.

    All of this just illustrates you're an ignorant-ass that doesn't know how any of this works, wringing your hands about scenarios that DO NOT EXIST IN THE REAL WORLD.

    If I absolutely need to get into your network I'm not fucking around with a fucking rooted Amazon FireTV I'm just going to CRACK YOUR FUCKING WIFI PASSWORD DIRECTLY.

    Apparently I have all day every day to fuck around so why do I give a shit about it taking a week or two?

    More likely, I'll walk up to your door with my phone in my hand and go "Hey, I just moved into the apartment next to yours and the wifi up at the office is broken. Could I log onto yours for a moment and pay a bill real quick? I apparently don't get any damn signal here either. I just moved from a fuckin' building where I had no signal, you'd think they'd have figured it out by now!"

    And almost every time this will be more than enough.

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