The problem (aside from this being illegal and destructive) is that the type of person that's likely to go out and purchase a poorly-secured "gee whiz" IOT device or router without considering security -- is the same type of person that's not going to understand why that device just stopped working for no coherent reason. As a result, they're likely to rush out and buy another, poorly-secured device, bringing the incompetence full circle with a zero net gain.

This, by the way, is why IT professionals are hated by everyone else - someone who goes to Costco and buys a router or a doorbell or a lock or a webcam or a thermostat or a fucking Juicero is not "incompetent" because they don't immediately go "I wonder if the kernel of this device has telnet enabled. I better sandbox it and do a port scan just to be sure."

IoT devices I have worked with in the past six months that require an active internet connection in order to configure even a tiny bit:

- Nest (cameras, thermostats, smoke detectors)

- Axis (top manufacturer of security cameras and camera gateways)

- Synology (top manufacturer of network attached storage devices and security servers)

- Qsee (garbage-on-a-plate DVRs and cameras)

- T&D (logging thermometers)

- Daikin (large manufacturer of commercial and industrial HVAC units)

- Carrier (larger manufacturer of commercial and industrial HVAC units)

And hey - you IT guys out there going "well you don't have to worry about the Synology" FUCK YOU TWICE. I'm at a level of competence where I got a guest network running on a TomatoUSB router in ten minutes and while I consider myself a semi-advanced user? I've got two professional IT guys who ask me for advice and if it requires this level of expertise to even understand the threats being talked about?

The word "incompetence" is off the fucking table.

Because you know what? Every single one of those devices can get through my firewall, which means it doesn't take rocket science, but whenever I try and get a fucking VPN working via Tunnelblick the Internet says "learn Linux."

Go read the comments of this article. There isn't that much concentrated smugness at a Tesla convention. If you're curious as to why you're never invited to parties? It's because you think less of us as human beings for having a thermostat we bought at Home Depot.