The American security firm Proofpoint recently identified a fridge that was being used to spread spam emails worldwide. This smart-connected fridge is one of the 100,000 devices in that spamming campaign. The cyber attack has affected various smart gadgets such as mobiles, computers, tablets, household items etc.

Proofpoint SayingThis spam attack occurred between 23 December 2013 and 6 January 2014. It sent a total of 650,000 unsolicited emails. These emails are sent from the 100,000 compromised devices mentioned.

According to ProofPoint, about 25 percent of the junk mail in that campaign was not sent from any laptop, desktop or smartphone. Instead, they come from various smart home appliances such as refrigerators, DVD players, media systems, televisions. So there is a clear misuse of their internet connectivity.

Computing processors and operating systems are used in these connected home appliances. Nowadays we have our own apps for smart TV, fridge, washing machine etc. However, their security is not very strong, so they are first attacked and then act as part of that attack.