Comcast Home Security Problems

1. www.armorax.com Comcast/Xfinity Security System Vulnerability It is important to always keep up with the world of home security. You want to make sure that the companies that are handling your home security/home automation needs are always making sure that their systems are up to date. The last thing a consumer wants to do is spend a lot of money on a security system to have it be vulnerable to potential home invaders. Comcast/Xfinity is a major provider of internet, television and phone services. Recently they have started to dabble in the world of home security and they have started to make a name for themselves, though their home security systems and monitoring services are quite expensive for the consumer who is on a budget. Comcast/Xfinity has recently been in the news for a vulnerability that has been found in their systems. The se?urity professio?als at Rapid 7 ha?e fou?d a pro?le? ?ith Co??ast/Xfi?ity’s home security syste?s. They ha?e fou?d that that the syste? ?ould falsely report that the syste?’s door a?d ?i?do? sensors are closed and secure when in actuality they are not. Another problem that was found by Rapid 7 is that the motion sensors themselves may not report motion even if a home invader is moving around the house. Comcast/Xfinity systems use a Zigbee-based protocol that operates over a 2.4 GHz radio frequency band. By limiting their wave length of signal used by their wireless devices they have set up their systems for a major vulnerability. All a potential home invader would need to do is use a radio jammer to disrupt this frequency which will cause the wireless devices to fail. At this point, all the potential home invader needs to do is enter the home through any access points such as windows and doors and

2. the system will not send an alert. This happens because the system will still report that the sensors are alright even when they are not communicating, giving a false reading with the sensors. Even after the jamming of the sensors has stopped, it can take up to several minutes or several hours for them to begin working properly again. What is really worrisome with consumers is that the base hub of the system has no notification of a change being made with the system during the time of the jamming. It makes sense for their system to have these breaks in the system because technically anything that had a frequency that could infer with their wireless devices would cause a security alert. The problem is that there should be some sort of failsafe to alert Comcast/Xfinity custumers that something is wrong. Also the fact that it can take hours for the sensors to re-establish connection after the jamming of the sensors happen is another major problem. This indicates that there are some major problems with Co??ast/Xfi?ity’s software that they use with their home security system. The most problematic problem is that Comcast/Xfinity gives their customers metal signs letting people know that their homes are protected by them. This means that potential home invaders will know that this particular house has a weakness in their home security system making it more appealing for home invaders to break in because we all know that thieves do their research so they could potentially be a?are of the ?eak?esses i? Xfi?ity’s ho?e se?urity syste?s. So you may be asking what is Comcast/Xfinity doing to fix this problem? At the moment they are doing nothing. According to Rapid 7 they have tried to contact Comcast/Xfinity several times but have gotten no response back from them. Comcast/Xfinity stated they are aware of the problem but have offered none of their customers any solutions as to how they will fix this problem. Today I visited website of Comcast/Xfinity’s ho?e se?urity syste?s and they state on their website they are doing an update so at the moment the sales of their systems seem to have ceased.

3. My advice to those in the market for a home security system is to make sure you do your research and stay up-to-date about home security systems. Just because a home security system is produced by a major company does not mean it is the best system out there. There are many other systems that are much cheaper than the one offered by Comcast/Xfinity that offer better protection at a better price. One brand that is worth looking into is 2GIG. The 2GIG brand strides in making the best home security equipment on the market. Their systems are wireless and tamper-proof so you do?’t ha?e to ?orry about some of the problems that other security devices su?h as Xfi?ity’s has. So remember just do your research before you decide to make a purchase for your home security needs. www.armorax.com