THE NEWS
A CNBC news report, quickly picked up by Scientific American and Yahoo!, among other reputable media outlets, suggested that security flaws in Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers allow hackers to instruct them to overheat and, potentially, catch fire.
THE TRUTH
In an attempt to show how some Internet-connected electronics are easy to hack, a computer science department research team at Columbia University in New York City hacked an HP printer.
The instructions they sent caused it to heat up enough to singe a sheet of white paper. The device shut itself down before it could approach fire-starting temperatures.
THE REACTION
Columbia professor Salvatore Stolfo told the Star:
“Some of the media outlets incorrectly (and inappropriately) reported about ‘burning printers.’ We were not able to burn any printer. In fact, our test showed that the thermal switch in the HP 2055DC printer design cuts power to the printer we tested if the fuser heats too much. That is good news for HP that their cutoff switch worked.
“Unfortunately, too many media outlets ignored our finding and reported the opposite.”
Wait, wait...there's more at http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1095525--can-a-computer-hacker-make-your-laser-printer-burst-into-flames
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