Made In China? You Could Be Getting Malware From It
Is anything made in China in your kitchen? It probably is, and according to a recent discovery, kitchen appliances made in China may be distributing malware through your WiFi signal.
Apparently China has been allegedly using kitchen appliances to spy on us for some time. At least that’s what they have discovered in a St. Petersburg news outlet quoting a source from a customs broker.
It might not be infecting your home WiFi hotspot if you have it password protected, as the hidden chips can only use an unsecured signal such as at most libraries, coffee shops, hotel rooms, and airports … for now. When was the last time you brought your laptop to McDonald’s for a free internet signal? You might want to do a malware scan.
The small chips made in China are allegedly being manufactured specifically to plant malware in your internet friendly computers and possibly smartphones and spy on you. The way it works is that it has to be an appliance which can be plugged in, or possibly heated. The current then generates a signal which is used for unknown purposes other than to plant something on your computer. Then the signal creates a bridge which a Chinese hacker allegedly may be using to sniff out your secrets. The power being used is converted to a harmless amount which doesn’t damage the chip at all.
China is planting spying microchips in household appliances that can scan Wi-Fi devices to serve malware http://t.co/VqmqDaVoWH
— nicholaskmc (@nkmccallum) November 2, 2013
For the moment, password protected WiFi hotspots are safe, but you don’t know if they may be allegedly upgrading the secret signal to bypass your password and snag things like payment information.
If you think you may be a victim of such a hack, you may want to play it safe and avoid using credit card information online at all to avoid falling victim to malware such as keyloggers.
The kitchen appliances made in China are allegedly embedded with chips so small that their added weight won’t be suspicious at all, and it has been proven that they exist. Two major appliances pointed to in the allegations included irons and tea kettles. Even though the ones used as evidence were allegedly found in Russia, it’s very likely that those chips were sent to other locations around the world.
It looks like the NSA isn’t the only government agency allegedly spying on you without your knowledge, but for now, just avoid using anything made in China while your computer is online.
[image via Shutterstock.com]
