Graham Cluley is reporting that researchers have uncovered two critical vulnerabilities in the TV-streaming EZCast device that can lead to remote code execution, and point to more general weaknesses in Internet of Things (IoT) security.
EZCast is an HDMI dongle-based TV streamer that is both remote-free and cross-platform (running on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows). The device enables a user to stream media content from the web or their mobile device onto a television
https://www.grahamcluley.com/2016/01/flawed-ezcast-media-streamer-let-hackers-run-malware-home-network/
Travis Smith, Senior Security Research Engineer at Tripwire explains: “Consumers are not quite aware of the implications of allowing root access to a device on their own network. Not until they feel a real impact to their daily lives will the typical consumer demand with their dollars that security is not only important, but essential.
When you combine low profit margins and competitive time to market, sacrifices are made to ship a minimum viable product. More often than not, security being built in from the beginning is one of the sacrifices made by many vendors. The costs associated with building and maintaining adequate security will reduce profits and/or increase the price of the product to the consumer, neither of which are ideal in a competitive IoT landscape.”