In an embarrassing blow to an Indian anti virus software maker, hackers compromised its website and turned it into a host for malicious code. This fact came to light when another security company, AVG, spotted the malicious code emanating from the download site for AvSoft’s SmartCop, an anti-virus software package.

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The more paranoid among us have long been wary of the possibility that networked fridges might spontaneously turn off, perhaps after becoming infected with a computer virus, ruining milk in the process. Other networked appliances might also pose a danger of sorts, security boffins have shown.

A security expert from Check Point demonstrated at the recent ClubHACK 2007 conference in India how a networked toaster might be used to hack a computer. The party piece, carried out by Check Point’s Dror Shalev, turns the more conventional use of computers in vending machines and computerised household appliances (such as DVD players) on its head.

Shalev said he developed the networked toaster hack in response to a statement from a senior scientist from Google that there was no need to be afraid of a toaster at home. “But as a hacker, I came up with a toaster that could actually hack a computer,” Shalev explained. “I call it a ‘Crazy Toaster’.”

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