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Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

zdnet.com

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Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#61

Post by stoolpigeon »

quest88 wrote: post #45
exabrial wrote: post #6

Their products are designed to work offline. Despite the cloud being down I have full local functionality right now. (Though I can't see my history, surprised they don't cache that locally). Last year when I did a 9-day canoe trip with no cell phone reception, all of my Garmin gear worked flawlessly (wearables, navigation devices, and their offline map app). Can't say the same about my friends iWatches/fitbits or eve…

FYI for anyone else reading: Google maps lets you download maps for offline use.

Getting that to work consistently is a real pain in the ass. I drive around Europe a lot and I'll download maps to save on roaming data and often I've downloaded a place and my phone still wont be able to generate directions for me. I don't know if I miss little spots that are needed to connect my end points or if it is just broken. It's been this way for quite a while. I've downloaded routes themselves and had that fail as well.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#62

Post by polymorph1sm »

nanidin wrote: post #50
amelius wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there isn't any guarantee that at some point, some marketing manager won't decide to break that.

It seems unlikely, Garmin is a very engineering led company. At least it was when I worked there 10 years ago! Part of that engineering focus is an insane attention to the BOM, and to support(call center) and warranty (returns & repairs) costs. I think both of these things make it unlikely that Garmin will add a cellular modem to start tracking otherwise unconnected devices.

I spoke with one the engineers at their hiring event last year, I can confirm they are still a very engineering led company.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#63

Post by thinkmassive »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #46
christoph wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Forerunner 935 is basically the same story today. I can't do anything on it via the mobile apps. I guess I probably could do something with their desktop app and the USB cable, but it's really struck me how crippled the device seems today with their servers down, basically nothing is available or works at all through either Garmin Connect or ConnectIQ mobile apps. The apps don't appear to have any recent data cach…

I'd consider my Forerunner 220 almost completely un-crippled. I went for a run this morning, tracked it and got pace and distance information the whole time. If I look at my wrist, it tells me correctly that the time is currently 9:49 AM. If I unlock the device and scroll to the History tab, my run, and all previous runs since last September and their details are visible there. It acquires the GPS satellites the same…

The inability to change settings or sync data from a local device connected via Bluetooth is a huge flaw. The inability to view historical data in the app is more understandable but still a major shortcoming, especially since mine appeared to be cached until the last cloud update timed out and the cached data disappeared.

I'm fairly certain memory isn't an issue for my devices to continue collecting data, but there's no good reason to prevent Bluetooth comms between phone and watch when the internet is unreachable.

source: I use a Forerunner 945 for fitness & all-day tracking, and a Vivosmart 4 for sleep tracking

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#64

Post by paozac »

christoph wrote: post #57
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd consider my Forerunner 220 almost completely un-crippled. I went for a run this morning, tracked it and got pace and distance information the whole time. If I look at my wrist, it tells me correctly that the time is currently 9:49 AM. If I unlock the device and scroll to the History tab, my run, and all previous runs since last September and their details are visible there. It acquires the GPS satellites the same…

I can't alter a watch face - i.e. alter the fields displayed. I'm not wanting to download a new face, just alter one already download and present in the app and on the watch, or alter any data fields around specific activities. I get syncing to any 3rd party service is clearly totally out unless I manually transfer the .fit file via USB and I understand why this would need their servers, although it would be good if…

There is absolutely no reason for requiring an internet connection for basic features such as setting an alarm or the 12/24h time format. I contacted Garmin customer support and they replied with corporate PR stuff, not answering my questions. I sold the watch a couple weeks later, won't buy Garmin again.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#65

Post by makomk »

quest88 wrote: post #45
exabrial wrote: post #6

Their products are designed to work offline. Despite the cloud being down I have full local functionality right now. (Though I can't see my history, surprised they don't cache that locally). Last year when I did a 9-day canoe trip with no cell phone reception, all of my Garmin gear worked flawlessly (wearables, navigation devices, and their offline map app). Can't say the same about my friends iWatches/fitbits or eve…

FYI for anyone else reading: Google maps lets you download maps for offline use.

Last time I tried, Google maps wouldn't do any kind of offline routing for walking or cycling, amongst other annoying limitations.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#66

Post by Causality1 »

quest88 wrote: post #45
exabrial wrote: post #6

Their products are designed to work offline. Despite the cloud being down I have full local functionality right now. (Though I can't see my history, surprised they don't cache that locally). Last year when I did a 9-day canoe trip with no cell phone reception, all of my Garmin gear worked flawlessly (wearables, navigation devices, and their offline map app). Can't say the same about my friends iWatches/fitbits or eve…

FYI for anyone else reading: Google maps lets you download maps for offline use.

There are also quite a few offline navigation and hiking/adventure apps. Standalone GPS devices can be rugged but that's about their only advantage. It's silly to complain about smartphones not working off the grid when all you have to do to fix that is tap a button before you leave home.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#67

Post by thinkmassive »

wil421 wrote: post #14
paozac wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they? Last Garmin product I had was a Vivosmart HR: an internet connection and a Garmin connect account was required to change basic settings such as the display orientation. And there was no way to disable syncing.

The Vivosmart is more like a Fitbit. I don’t see it as a stand-alone device. Does it still count steps and track your heart rate without internet?

Based on my experience using a Vivosmart 4 for sleep tracking, often in remote areas w/o mobile signal, it does store that data to be synced later. Obviously it has a finite memory but I don't recall having ever lost data from the device.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#68

Post by rightbyte »

mattbk1 wrote: post #54
rightbyte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having your gps time-out on you might be lethal. Imagine an hypothetical auto update bricking all gps devices in the group on a mountain top or the sea and relying on a compass and map if you were smart enought to bring it. Not having a gps makes many endouvers just that much more risky. Edit: made it clear it is a hypothetical scenario

You should always have backup navigation aids available (printed maps, compass, watch), regardless of whether you trust your GPS device or not.

Ye. I do alot of sailing and did it in the 90s and early 00s with only map and compass, so I know how hard it is. Without gps you need to sail in such a way that you are in line with landmarks etc. With gps you can roam freely.

If you are out on the sea and the gps dies and you have not been tracking the paper map you are lost, so GPS are in practice realy critical devices. Especially since many sailors nowadays might be rusty on map navigation.

I mean garmin have high quality and I agree people need to not trust electronoc tools too much and be too dependent on them

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#69

Post by ISL »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #55
rightbyte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having your gps time-out on you might be lethal. Imagine an hypothetical auto update bricking all gps devices in the group on a mountain top or the sea and relying on a compass and map if you were smart enought to bring it. Not having a gps makes many endouvers just that much more risky. Edit: made it clear it is a hypothetical scenario

Garmins update by USB, not GPS. There's no way for them to push an update to you on top of a mountain or in the middle of the sea. Also, when I plug my Garmin watch into my computer by USB, it just brings up a USB mass storage device. I could drag a new firmware image over if I had one, but it's not going to auto-update and time out. I last updated in 2016, it's been going strong since 2013. Incidentally, battery cap…

My watch updates via bluetooth every time a new firmware ships. It can also update via USB.

Re: Garmin services and production go down after ransomware attack

#70

Post by rightbyte »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #55
rightbyte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having your gps time-out on you might be lethal. Imagine an hypothetical auto update bricking all gps devices in the group on a mountain top or the sea and relying on a compass and map if you were smart enought to bring it. Not having a gps makes many endouvers just that much more risky. Edit: made it clear it is a hypothetical scenario

Garmins update by USB, not GPS. There's no way for them to push an update to you on top of a mountain or in the middle of the sea. Also, when I plug my Garmin watch into my computer by USB, it just brings up a USB mass storage device. I could drag a new firmware image over if I had one, but it's not going to auto-update and time out. I last updated in 2016, it's been going strong since 2013. Incidentally, battery cap…

Ye sorry was not clear it was a hypotetichal dystopic scenario about modern ad-driven development.

You can receive GMS on the sea and on mountains though, so it is not impossible to have over the air updates like a Tesla.

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