As the name suggests, the intent of the competition is to show off just how bad security is on Small Office/Home Office devices. In the last few year a staggering number of flaws in both code and hardware have been found in this class of device from a wide range of manufacturers including Cisco, Netgear, Belkin and more. Some of these companies continue to ship products with hard coded admin credentials, open web access, and even worse flaws while still marketing them as a method for securing a home.

According to the competition website the industry is simply not making the changes needed to protect the consumer: “Despite abundant research and evidence that SOHO (small office/home office) devices are highly vulnerable to malicious compromise, the vulnerable trends continue.” Perhaps having their products put in the spotlight will help them decide to make the right choice.

We will be covering DEF CON 22 and this contest in particular so you can bet that any devices that fall will get their time in the sun here on DecryptedTech. Once the market knows a company is not where they should be things tend to change pretty quickly.

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