Ikea’s new range of lightbulbs, which you can control from your smartphone, could one day be used to carry out massive hack attacks, experts have warned.

As far-fetched as it might sound, enterprising cyber-crooks might be able to use these lights to wipe out the internet and grind everyday activities to a halt.

Large parts of the web were plunged into darkness last year after hackers took over 145,000 web cameras to create a massive “botnet”.

A botnet is a network of computers or electrical devices which were hacked with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners’ knowledge.

They can be used to perpetually ping requests to the server (the computer which keeps websites and internet providers running) knocking them offline.

Last years victim were the servers belonging to Dyn, a company that controls much of the world’s websites.

When it was flooded by the webcam botnet, it brought down sites including Twitter, the Guardian, Netflix, Reddit and Spotify.

Now experts have warned that there’s a danger the Swedish flatpack specialists’ new smart home range could put the West at risk again.

Cyber security experts at Hackaday wrote: “After tearing apart this bulb… Markus found he could dim a pair of LEDs simply by clicking on the remote.”

He claimed: “Somewhere in these bulbs, there’s a possibility of doing something.”

An Ikea spokesperson said that the new line of smart lighting complies with all regulatory requirements and that it had opted for a “closed platform solution” which would “further secure our smart lighting products.”