News

Cyber security firm: kiosks are easy to hack

May 2, 2017

Touchscreen kiosks are easy to hack, according to Kaspersky Labs, a cyber security consultancy, reported by IoT For All, a technology media news site.

Kiosks are PCs with a touchscreen operating in "kiosk" mode, an interactive graphical shell with limited functionality. Users shouldn't be able to exit the kiosk mode and get access to the main OS, let alone easily. But in reality, the process to exit the kiosk mode is as simple as right clicking to exit full screen or clicking on external links, the report noted.

The report discussed three techniques for gaining access to the OS environment: tap fuzzing, data fuzzing and external links.

The report also described how easy it was to hack into kiosks at government offices by long pressing the change printer button; clicking on ads on airport kiosks, then subsequently opening an additional browser window; and getting root access to Android OS on taxi payment panels.