Baby smart watches are vulnerable to hacking

The Norwegian Consumer Protection Board (Forbrukerrådet) tested some models of “smart” watches from various manufacturers, including Gator and GPS for Kids and found in them a number of vulnerabilities that make it easy to crack a gadget, reports the BBC.

According to representatives of the agency, during the audit it was found that attackers can monitor, eavesdrop or even communicate with users of the device. Watch Gator and GPS for Kids transmit and store data without any encryption. Thus, malefactors can easily track or change the child’s location data without much difficulty.

Watches basically replace children with smartphones, allowing parents to communicate with children and track their location. Some of them have a SOS function that allows the child to instantly contact their parents.

Producers said that these problems have either been eliminated or will be eliminated in the near future. According to representatives of Gator, all data has already been transferred to new encrypted servers and at the moment a new, more secure version of the application is being developed. Representatives of GPS for Kids said that the vulnerabilities in their devices were completely eliminated. Nevertheless, in the UK, one of the models of “smart” watches has already been withdrawn from sale as a preventive measure.