Could Your Coffee Be A Security Threat?

A new internet security threat has emerged - and it all comes down to a cup of coffee.

Many household devices can now be hooked up to the internet, but if they are not properly secured, they could allow an easy way for hackers to get into a home or office network.

An IT security specialist discovered a number of flaws after he hooked a coffee percolator up to the web.

The Jura F90 is marketed as fully Internet-compatible, with the link allowing problems with the machine to be diagnosed remotely or the machine to be fine-tuned according to taste.

Geoff Sweeney, CTO of Tier-3, said: ""This security situation is an all too common one.

"Making the coffee too weak is a problem that can easily be fixed, but if a security flaw allows a remote hacker to take over your desktop PC, then you have a real problem on your hands."

Mr Sweeney said that internet users should be careful before hooking up the most benign of Internet-enabled devices to the office network, as there may be unknown problems lurking and waiting to be discovered.

He added: "Hackers will always look for part or least resistance. The coffee machine is not going to hold any personal details, but it is a push to get vendors to make household products more secure.

"The Internet is now so pervasive that you are going to see a lot more office devices, including, printers, PDAs, Smart Phones, and even fridges, capable of being hooked up to the corporate network and the Net.

"People need to be aware that some part of their appliance could be exposed."

Jura said in response to a number of reports of this story: "Jura is well aware of these articles which it clearly qualifies as misinformation.

"The internet Connectivity Kit which can optionally be acquired for only one device (IMPRESSA F90/F9) will at no times connect the coffee machine to the world wide web.

"Its settings can therefore only be changed by the machine's rightful owner."