Re: [Spud] OS updates on embedded devices

[Tom Herbert <[e-mail]>]

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 2:09 PM, Phillip Hallam-Baker
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> We are quite a way afield here. But there are very good reasons for
> NOT wanting automatic updates.
>
> Security for me means that the device does what I want it to and
> nothing else. Having the system change behavior because some code
> monkey decided to add some Kewl features is a security vulnerability
> as far as I am concerned.
>
> I have Sonos devices in some of the rooms. They are practically
> unusable because the idiots who make the app insist on making changes
> that require the already sluggish iPhone app to be updated regularly.
>
> When I want to turn the radio on I want it to take less than a second.
> Sonos is already slow. But when it asks for an update of the app,
> someone has to bring the phone to me and have me enter the password to
> update it. Then the device will often fail to find the app store. If
> it does find it then it is another five minutes to load the new app.
>
>
> If a network device did the same thing it would undoubtedly break my network.

This discussion is probably more relevant in the IoT and security
lists. But anyway, as we start attaching more and more devices to the
the Internet they eventually become targets. One known problem we face
is that security vulnerabilities, unlike simple bugs, are usually not
caught in initial development. It's only after significant deployment
that would-be attackers get interest in this. So our choices are:
don't connect devices, update software (wherever it is) on running
devices, live with security vulnerabilities, buy new HW, have devices
live behind other devices that provide security, etc. Given that these
devices are targeted to end users and that some serve life critical
functions (like you smoke detector), a transparent solution seems
essential.

Tom