LG Washing Machine With Wi-Fi Caught Sending 3.6GB Of Data Per Day But Why?

Simply put, the Internet of Things is cool, but it's cooler still when configured correctly and built with security in mind. Unfortunately, that almost never happens. A much more likely story is something like what happened to Johnie on Xwitter, who discovered a rogue IoT device living on their network and sending gigabytes of data a day for no particular reason. Specifically, their LG washing machine was using 3.6GB of data traffic daily.

On X, Johnie posted a rhetorical question pondering why in the world their LG washing machine was using 3.6GB of data per day. This was accompanied by a graph from their Asus router showing as much, as well as what “apps” were using what data. It would appear that over the course of a couple of days, there was 11.5GB of data uploaded over SSL/TLS and 622 bytes of Apple iMessage data uploaded as well. 


Of course, the latter especially does not make sense, though ultimately, all of it is absurd. As such, Johnie elected to isolate the device, monitor traffic, and block the device on the router. They then posted a note saying, “Sorry if you were using my washing machine for bitcoin mining. But I'd gladly rent our the LPU (Laundry Processing Unit) by the hour.” With all this, there were also some jokes regarding the laundry machine downloading DLCs (Downloadable Laundry Cycles) or it gaining sentience, but we suspect that isn't the case.


The data usage could be due to a bug in a legitimate LG function, an error on the part of the ASUS router, or a security issue, but whatever the cause, it raises a good point. IoT devices are necessarily connected to the internet, and that means they present a vulnerable attack surface. This is sort of a known and accepted issue. We’ve seen cameras, routers, and even coffee makers get pwned when connected to the internet, so it wouldn’t be completely surprising if the laundry machine was doing something nefarious at a remote attacker's bidding.

With that in mind, perhaps it is worth following the guidance of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on securing IoT devices and your home network. You never know when you could be at risk.