The idea of a washing machine, coffee maker, refrigerator, etc. including a network card strikes me as a solution in search of a problem. Unless you are the company marketing these devices and the problem is "how can start getting in on the user data collection game".
I am the owner of this rogue washing machine.<p>If anyone has any ideas on how to investigate this, I'm open to ideas.
As of now, I've just blocked the internet access.
The next post in that thread is even weirder. Apparently, you can use the Wi-Fi functionality to.. "download cycles"? Like, the machine itself includes some presets for certain washing procedures/cycles, and the app provides additional ones. But the question is *why?* Why didn't they just include them on the washing machine's hardware? It's not like you'd need updates for these cycles - imagine needing to download Denim Wash 1.4 or something.
I put all these 'smart' devices on separate network (wifi) that has adguard home as resolver. It makes ir relatively easy to identify what is which device talking to and even block it.
Here's an old pcap from an LG dryer to the same remote host(s).<p><a href="https://gist.github.com/Jonathan727/9ef58e7a64806d1e01112b202cdc14bc" rel="nofollow">https://gist.github.com/Jonathan727/9ef58e7a64806d1e01112b20...</a>
I have LG Washer connected to my network. The network stack on my model is terrible and would constantly fail after period of time receiving multicast packets from other devices. I had to segment it on to it's own SSID/VLAN/IP Address and ensure no other traffic reached it. It has been stable since then.<p>Mine has only used 3MB over the last month, which seems low.<p>As to why. It is connected to home automation system and will announce on Sonos when the wash (or dry) is complete. I also had it connected to LEDs on light switch that would blink when clothes were in the machines waiting to get moved.
I have a Bosch induction cooktop with wifi, and a Bosch oven without wifi. The cooktop has updated its firmware automatically a few times, and I have no idea why. The oven's timer always froze when it attempted to count down past 1:01. It was fixed by a service person who drove over and replaced the <i>entire controller board</i>.<p>So much wrong with this situation: Why does an oven need a computer in the first place? How can you release software for an oven where the <i>timer</i> doesn't work? How is it economical to make an unflashable controller board? Etc.<p>BTW, I got a look at the board, and turns out Bosch doesn't even make its own oven controllers.
My washer has the option of connecting to the internet for its "Download Cycle" mode but I'm surprised that anyone actually uses that<p>I just assumed it came about from some manager saying "You know what washing machines need? An app."
I was looking forward to being able to remotely control aspects of the dryer, but disappointed that my LG only allows control if the button is physically pushed to enable remote (and it only lets you do one remote instruction before it requires being pressed again)<p>I had imagined I could trigger a dryer cycle while I was away, or just wanted to run a couple cycles before I had a chance to actually empty it. Sadly that requires physical coordination of remembering to set it beforehand and then only getting one spin with it.<p>The only beneficial thing I get is the notification that a cycle is done, or perhaps an error (haven't got one yet)
I can see <i>some</i> data collection (after it is announced and agreed upon) being useful. How hot was the water coming in? How much water did this cycle use? Was the cycle stopped? Was it stopped and restarted, and if so, when? (So as to tell between "I missed that sock" and "I wanted to add some liquid a quarter of the way through") What time of day am I being used? Perhaps even a "you did a load two days ago and now it is getting mildewy" alarm.<p>Some data could actually be valuable for product design and iteration. That sounds like a few kilobytes per month.
Probably a much simpler answer. The programmers who work on a washing machine are probably inexperienced low wage disempowered help. And there’s an innocent rx/tx loop for a home grown notification system and noone on the team knows better or knows how to use a packet sniffer or perf analyzer.<p>Never attribute to malfeasance what incompetence can explain.<p>Put a packet sniffer on it. Bet it doesn’t use https, that costs extra for microcontrollers. Dollars to doughnuts it’s a teenager on a road trip.<p>Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
I could never 'get' twitter/X, how do I see the 'conversation'?<p>Why is his machine using so much, are there any comments? A thread? Or is this just thrown out there for likes?
There is no legitimate reason for that. Your washing machine is infected and part of a bot net. Contact LG and get them to help you reset and secure it. You might also want to take a look at all of your devices on your home internet. It seems attackers have gotten into your internal network.
I bought a Bluetooth-connectible blood pressure measuring device. The first app was decent, the second app? Several screens were behind "Upgrade to premium to unlock this feature". And then it started gamifying, "measure your blood pressure every day to earn points", redeemable for... fucking what?<p>Fuck youuuuu, Omron!
That's 41.7 kilobytes per second, easily enough for a permanent phone call.<p>So, who wants to bet it turns out the NSA really is spying on us with microphones in our washing machines?
I mean I'm kinda curious in smart machines that I can hookup to my own dashboard or self hosted smart assistant to automate something like make coffee every day at 9am. Or to see how long till the laundry is done.<p>But I would never let a smart device connect to the cloud aka internet. I'd isolate it on a clan and I'd probably be sniffing the network traffic and autosave the last month of traffic.<p>I trust my network....I don't trust devices that run who knows what firmware/software.<p>I know it seems paranoid and to some it probably is but iv read to many storied of smart devices being insecure or the company going under and then you being left with something that dosnt work because it can't talk to their cloud server.<p>I like the smart tech when I'm in control of the data and not reliant on some company.