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Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

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Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#21

Post by bluGill »

brobdingnagians wrote: post #5

It's even worse than that. Most of the GPS child watches or other trackers use a few large Chinese providers; they have little or no security on their APIs and administrative panels, (absolutely no API key authentication in at least one case, or `admin`, `admin` type defaults that don't get changed) so don't ever buy any GPS tracking watches for your child.

Which is unfortunate because there are times when I wish my kid had one. I'm not too worried about kidnapping, but there are times when I want to say come back from the park for dinner.

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#23

Post by jeena »

ehnto wrote: post #17
TeMPOraL wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because unless you're deeply involved in politics or some nefarious activity, all that surveillance isn't likely to impact you immediately and directly in any noticeable way. Most of it isn't even seen by other humans. Whereas parents have direct power over their children, and they tend to pay close attention - which makes "eavesdropping" on children both a huge risk for parental abuse, and a general source of develo…

This was my first thought when reading the article. Why are these devices out there in the first place? Even if I had come to the conclusion that I needed one for my child, in no sane world would I hand that responsibility over to a tech startup that only just cobbled itself together. I'm sure they -could- be done securely, but I'll never get to see all the links in the security chain to make sure, and it's ultimatel…

Once a parent was looking for their 4 years old in panic with help of the police because the child for some reason decided to look for them outside of the house and ended up meeting some other children and went with them to the new playground, those parents look for something like a phone or something with GPS so they can find them earlier before something happens.

Not every of those parents have the overview of which company can be trusted and which can't so they need to believe what the advertisement says.

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#24

Post by nuccy »

Dwolb wrote: post #15

I’m a big fan of what Jiobit is doing: https://www.jiobit.com/ The core team is all ex-Moto engineers and was built from the ground up in the US. Based out of Chicago I believe.

I like those devices too, but they, and all other kids smart-watches, have the same issue - huge attach surface due to use of cloud-based third party servers to gather and display information, change configuration of the device with a parent's smartphone via an app. I, personally, don't care about that level of convenience, which imposes lower security. I would prefer information about location to arrive even via SMS/email in form of good-old GPS coordinates, which can be requested only from a list of pre-approved phone numbers, all of which are configured using physical USB connection. The only problem with such an approach is hijacking of the phone number of one of parents, but that is very unlikely.

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#25

Post by martin_a »

bluGill wrote: post #21
brobdingnagians wrote: post #5

It's even worse than that. Most of the GPS child watches or other trackers use a few large Chinese providers; they have little or no security on their APIs and administrative panels, (absolutely no API key authentication in at least one case, or `admin`, `admin` type defaults that don't get changed) so don't ever buy any GPS tracking watches for your child.

Which is unfortunate because there are times when I wish my kid had one. I'm not too worried about kidnapping, but there are times when I want to say come back from the park for dinner.

Buy your kid a dumb watch, explain it to him, tell him to be home at 6, otherwise he will be grounded. Worked for ages, should work for now.

(Or to be somewhat less snarky: We should not try to solve every problem with technology, just because we can.)

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#26

Post by Maximus9000 »

> "Rapid7's researchers also found that the three smartwatches had the exact same default password: 123456. It's unlikely people would change this password, as the devices don't even tell the users that password exists or how they can change it"

Jesus!

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#27

Post by Dwolb »

faitswulff wrote: post #16
Dwolb wrote: post #15

I’m a big fan of what Jiobit is doing: https://www.jiobit.com/ The core team is all ex-Moto engineers and was built from the ground up in the US. Based out of Chicago I believe.

Is there any reason you used the past-tense for what they're attempting? They seem like a fully functional company from the URL given.

Fixed thanks!

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#28

Post by ben_w »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #8

Why is "eavesdropping" on children such a big issue? Our "adult" devices may or may not be eavesdropping on us at all times.

It’s also bad that “adult” devices eavesdrop in adults, but in theory adults can decide for themselves if they’re ok with it.

In practice, I suspect the average adult is as aware of how much their devices spy on them as they are of the terms and conditions of the products and services they use — a distant and meaningless theoretical that might as well be a work of fiction.

Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3

#30

Post by ramblerman »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #8

Why is "eavesdropping" on children such a big issue? Our "adult" devices may or may not be eavesdropping on us at all times.

For the same reason we don't allow children access to alcohol and tobacco. Society had a duty to protect them until they can decide for themselves.
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