Mark Hay reports:
Over the last few years, the world has started waking up to the disconcerting vulnerabilities of internet enabled sex toys. Information security (infosec) experts and white hat hackers have shown, often through eye-catching stunts, that thanks to apparent security oversights, it is possible for malicious actors to access data on certain toys’ users, muck with toys’ operations, and even take control of them. Back end monkeying could shut down toys until a user or manufacturer pays a ransom. Stolen data on things concerning usage time, location, device pairing, account names, emails, or IP addresses, or a user’s sexual orientation—not to mention pilfered chat logs, images, audio, or videos connected to a toy—could be used for humiliation, extortion, or even physical stalking. Hijacked devices could be used to commit long-distance assault, a type of sex crime our legal system is clearly not yet equipped to handle. And that’s just scratching the surface of mischief bad actors could get up to by hacking toys.
Read more on Vice.