Hacking Washing Machines [video]

We already know that hackers from NSA / FSB / PLA are working day and night on nation-state level attacks. They divert toilet tissue deliveries and hack traffic signals to raise my blood pressure to a tipping point where, presumably, I am supposed to demand local regime change?

Now I have to worry about passing drones using blinkenlights to Stuxnet my wool wash and shrink my merino socks? Brilliant. Bloody brilliant.

It’s like the most banal version of Battlestar Galactica ever but instead of an alien intelligence leveraging computer integration to attack mankind from within, it’s a guy in a t-shirt in a sweaty bunker filling my dishwasher to the brim with cold water then laughing at me via my Ring camera as he watches me flood my kitchen.

[Very cool talk, thanks for sharing :) ]

The video brought me back to my internship in the early 2010s. My job was testing the new US ovens (which for us Europeans are massive). The bus was amazing. Integrated into a LabView setup, you could basically collect any readings from the oven as well as remotely control it. Also, it was super easy to confirm "manual" actions (e.g. soleniods pushing buttons/motors turning knobs).

A few other interesting tasks I was involved back then were:

- smashing an oven's door until the hinges would give up - testing new heating elements in the open (basically, building a gigantic grill) - appliance transport packaging tests - cooking and baking on a daily basis to make sure food turns out as expected

Overall, home appliances are a great product as an engineer to work on. It is a product you usually use multiple times a day. And if you love cooking yourself, even better :-)

Pretty cool for BSH and Miele to hop on a call with the researchers just to make sure there were no issues they were unaware of. Sounded like it was productive and positive for everyone involved. Hopefully they don't start doubling down on hardware security though :p

The optical communication for the Miele was pretty interesting too. I'm assuming it's to prevent moisture from corroding a port of some kind. Does anyone know of other devices this is used in or other benefits to this?

Whenever someone brings up washing machines and software, I am always reminded of Forth[0]:

  As an example, imagine a microprocessor-controlled washing 
  machine programmed in Forth. The ultimate command in your 
  example is named WASHER. Here is the definition of WASHER, 
  as written in Forth:

    : WASHER  WASH SPIN RINSE SPIN ;

I'm "fearful" of a future where every random appliance needs to be connected to the internet in order to function at all. I hope some legislation gets passed (in the EU in my case) that forces manufacturers to ensure the machine works offline and connecting it is purely an opt-in feature.

We have a Thermomix TM31 which I repaired a few weeks ago. On the control board I found an IR module and a LED beside that which both are visible from outside (left side of the display), but are not labled. Until now I couldn't find any documentation or information about this IR interface. It would be nice if someone will reverse engineer this. And maybe also an integration into the BSH-App. Then you could remotely start the cooking process when leaving the office... :-)

Very interesting talk! I think it is quite cool that Miele and BSH reached out when they saw the event announcements to make sure there are not any issues they're not aware of. Seems like a productive experience for all involved!

The WiFi implementation was interesting to me, I am glad that it is reasonably safe. I understand much of the skepticism around these kinds of features, but I also see the value in many settings. As long as they remain optional, I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Kudos for BSH having good developer documentation and a local mode. I feel like a local mode should be mandatory, for safety and support reasons

When I read 'Hacking washing machines' the first thing that came to mind was how to open that damn thing once the program had finished.

Makes me appreciate our landlord's electro-mechanical "music-box" washing machine.

It has been working for 25 years with no servicing, except when it "broke" once about 5 years ago. So I just opened it, stared at it for a while, and after considering the symptoms (no click in the door locking mechanism but power indicator light turning on), I realized the issue will be with something very early on in the fixed washing cycle, before the timing motor gets activated, and there will be no serious electrical damage elsewhere (fuse intact). So I looked at the door locking mechanism (bi-metalic thing) and noticed that the cable connector leading to it was slightly shifted. Re-seated the connector, and the machine started working again.

While it was open, I didn't notice anything horrible (corrosion, leaks, nothing). Probably the next thing that will "break" will be when the motor's carbon brushes will "run out". :)

You can understand and diagnose these things even without knowing too much. That's how obvious, simple, and accessible the electro-mechanical design is.

What is the point in the WiFi? All I am interested in is something that washes my clothes. Not something with endless updates and glitches that ger fixed in post.

Neat, now I can diagnose whats going on with my 20y old Miele dishwasher when it does weird things!

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