by Larry Magid
A study conducted by HP Fortify found that “100 percent of tested smartwatches exhibit security flaws.”
Vulnerabilities include insufficient authentication and lack of encryption as well as “privacy concerns.”
“Smartwatches have only just started to become a part of our lives, but they deliver a new level of functionality that could potentially open the door to new threats to sensitive information and activities,” said Jason Schmitt, general manager, HP Security, Fortify. “As the adoption of smartwatches accelerates, the platform will become vastly more attractive to those who would abuse that access, making it critical that we take precautions when transmitting personal data or connecting smartwatches into corporate networks.”
The study looked at 10 smartwatches, along with their Android and iOS cloud and mobile application components.
The most common and easily addressable security issues reported include:
- Insufficient User Authentication/Authorization: Every smartwatch tested was paired with a mobile interface that lacked two-factor authentication and the ability to lock out accounts after 3-5 failed password attempts. Three in ten, 30 percent, were vulnerable to account harvesting, meaning an attacker could gain access to the device and data via a combination of weak password policy, lack of account lockout, and user enumeration.
- Lack of transport encryption: Transport encryption is critical given that personal information is being moved to multiple locations in the cloud. While 100 percent of the test products implemented transport encryption using SSL/TLS, 40 percent of the cloud connections continue to be vulnerable to the POODLE attack, allow the use of weak cyphers, or still used SSL v2.
- Insecure Interfaces: Thirty percent of the tested smartwatches used cloud-based web interfaces, all of which exhibited account enumeration concerns. In a separate test, 30 percent also exhibited account enumeration concerns with their mobile applications. This vulnerability enables hackers to identify valid user accounts through feedback received from reset password mechanisms.
- Insecure Software/Firmware: A full 70 percent of the smartwatches were found to have concerns with protection of firmware updates, including transmitting firmware updates without encryption and without encrypting the update files. However, many updates were signed to help prevent the installation of contaminated firmware. While malicious updates cannot be installed, lack of encryption allows the files to be downloaded and analyzed.
- Privacy Concerns: All smartwatches collected some form of personal information, such as name, address, date of birth, weight, gender, heart rate and other health information. Given the account enumeration issues and use of weak passwords on some products, exposure of this personal information is a concern.
The study found that data collected on the watch and passed through to an application is often sent to multiple backend destinations, often including third parties) and that “watches that include cloud interfaces often employed weak password schemes, making them more susceptible to attack.”
The report said that HP tested “popular” watches but didn’t specify them by name or manufacturer.