PALM HARBOR, FL -
Every day, Palm Harbor travel agent Dianne Labonte relies on her networked computers to book vacations for customers. She takes security very seriously. News of the latest hacker scare made her take notice. "The vulnerability is not just here in the agency and our business as a whole, but for every single person that does business with us, every single company that does business with us" said LaBonte
The problem is with a program installed on millions of routers, storage drives, printers, even smart t-v's. It's a program called "universal plug and play" or u-p-n-p.
Jim Watt of "Dynamic Solutions Group" helps businesses keep their data secure. He warns, the flaw in u-p-n-p can allow crooks to break into your electronics, without stepping foot near your home.
They can take over equipment on your network, whether it's a computer, a d-v-r for your network security, they've hacked into those. They can actually play the video, alter the video"said Watt savvy, it can get very complicated.>
Some device makers may offer a patch to fix the flaw, but users will have to install it. And if you do install the patch, a device, like a printer that used to work, may not anymore.
It's a program that is supposed to make computers easy, but its making it easy for hackers.
